Hiruy Ephrem ‘17
My name is Hiruy Ephrem. I graduated from Middlebury College in May 2017. For the first half of my Middlebury College career, I did not have much of a community outside of the campus. Most of my activities and relationships were fostered on the hill and my time with the community were the occasional community service opportunities and performances in town. However, that all changed during Thanksgiving of my third year.
Junior year was the first time I decided to spend Thanksgiving on campus. A trip back home was too expensive and required too much time. I had only met the Franklins once before this, and one of their host students invited me over to their house to celebrate. I was not sure what to expect, but I was shocked that the Franklins were hosting over 15 students who stayed on campus that year. Even more surprising was how comfortable I felt at their home, given that it was my first time there. They welcomed my peers and me with literal open arms as they greeted us and unconditionally provided rides, time, and food with all of us. The following year was even more special as I was warmly invited once more and despite blizzarding weather, Mr. Franklin and a few of their host students made rounds to campus to pick us all up and drive us to their house, 20 minutes away.
Beyond Thanksgiving, the Franklins are very active in reaching out to all of us regularly. We have a group chat with over 30 students that have unique relationships with the Franklins, and every couple of weeks, Mrs. Annette Franklin reaches out to us to invite us to her home for food and activities! Thus our groupchat’s name, Annette’s Middkids, is more than fitting. The Franklin’s home has been more than a second home for many students and during my graduation, I felt it would have been wrong to not have introduced my family, to what has become my second family. To this very day, my family reminisces over the dinner at the Franklin’s house where Mrs. Franklin made great Ethiopian food. My family, all Ethiopians, were very, very impressed.
