The newly appointed chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, spent one year (1973-74) as a high school exchange student at the Holton-Arms School in Bethesda, MD, the Washington Post reported yesterday. Lagarde, a French citizen, formed a deep and long-lasting connection with her host family and said that her year in the U.S. was incredibly influential for her, both personally and professional:

“During that year, at Holton-Arms, with my host family and interning in Washington, I learned more, and it mattered more to me, probably, than any year of my life.”

The Post writes that “even as she climbed corporate and political hierarchies…[Lagarde] never stopped relying on her host family.” She formed a particularly enduring relationship with her host father, Bill Atkins, a connection that has remained deep into her professional life. “She was like a daughter,” Atkins says. “We would talk with her, but it wasn’t filled with a lot of emotion like some teenagers and children. With her, we’d have really good discussions, whatever was on my mind, something she observed being in Washington.”

Lagarde interned for then Representative and future Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen while she was in the DC area, which proved to be a professionally formative experience for her:

“The internship made me think about checks and balances. It was my first injection of political life, and to get that at age 18 leaves a mark on you.”