Houseparents Laid the Foundation for Alumna’s Fulfilling Career at Milton Hershey School

By Amanda Massanet ’08, MHS Houseparent

I know it’s a very difficult decision for parents/sponsors to send their children to Milton Hershey School. I know that firsthand because I went to MHS for seven years and now, I’m a housemother, who regularly communicates with my students’ parents/sponsors.

I never feel like I can pay my houseparents back enough for how much they poured into my life. They will never know the impact that they had on my life and what it meant to have them be caring role models for me as a young girl. While I was a student, my houseparents laid a foundation for me and instilled in me a lot of the values I have now. The great relationship I have and continue to have with my housemother made me want to become a housemother myself.

I’ve learned that being a houseparent has to be your life. It’s not just a job. Now that I’m a housemother here, my own houseparents and I get together. It’s really nice to have that relationship continue from when I was a student to now as a staff member.

I could not have asked for a better support system in deciding to come and be a housemother at MHS. The community is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before because we know we have a job to do here for these students. And I have not found a person that is not 1,000% committed to helping each other.

“We’re all in this together” is a cliché, but we truly are all in this together. We help each other. We hold each other up through the hard times. We support each other and keep the community strong. I just feel supported by all the houseparents at MHS.