So...I am taking an English composition class, and this is my first essay, I definitively need to put it here..
HOW I BECAME AN AU PAIR
I don’t remember exactly when it happened, but
suddenly I got the idea to travel and live in another country, even for a short
time. I guess it was when I was eight years old, and I left my country for
first time to I travel to Disneyworld in United States of America for fifteen days.
I traveled without my parents as it was a tourism trip for children. I can’t
say that after that trip was when I decided I wanted to travel to another
country, but it opened my eight year old mind to other places and another cultures.
The time passed and I grew up and traveled to Ecuador
with my family. Again, I enjoyed the experience of meeting new people, seeing
new places and discovering a new culture.
I started studying English in high school, and I
always wanted to come back to the U.S. to improve my English, but it was too expensive
for my family and me. We don’t have relatives in the U.S. which meant that if I
decided to come, my parents would have to pay, not only for my English
education, but also, for a place for me to live so, it seemed the idea would
just be a dream.
One day in class, my friend told me about the Au Pair
program, and I became really excited about the idea. The chance to live with an
American family, take care of their kids and have the opportunity to study
English, and the best part, it wasn’t expensive! So, I talked with my mom. At
first she wasn’t sure about the program; “Is that safe?” she wondered. “Why someone would like to bring a foreign
girl to take care of their own kids?”
But, after a while, she realized it was a good opportunity and I was
almost ready to apply, but for personal reasons I couldn’t do it at that
moment.
Three years passed, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree and was working
as an engineer in a manufacturing company; however, I hadn’t given up on my
dream. The idea of being an Au Pair
still remained in my mind, and one day I decided to make it happen. So, I
called to the Agency (Cultural Care), but the things didn’t work how I was
expecting. According to this Agency one of the requirements for being an Au
Pair in USA was being a student, which I wasn’t. I felt my dream was falling
apart again, but I didn’t give up. I started looking at being an Au Pair in another
English speaking country, and I found an Agency for Au Pairing in the
Netherlands. I applied and fulfilled all the requirements; I was ready to be an
Au Pair!
However, time went on and I didn’t find a host family (the Netherlands
is a small country, and there weren’t many available families). I was really upset, I felt I was losing my
money and my time, but I was obsessed with the idea. I didn’t want to quit and abandon hope so; I
called again to the U.S. agency Cultural Care, looking for another opportunity,
but again they rejected my profile. Although this time they referred me to
another Agency, Au Pair in America.
When I went to talk with the agent, she told me that my profile was
perfect and I didn’t have to be a student to apply for the program, so I did it
and in less that 6 months I was traveling to the USA!
Everything was so fast that I couldn’t believe it! I had to resign from
my job, and get over the fact I was leaving my engineering job to take care of kids!
I knew it sounded crazy for a lot of people even my mom, but being an Au Pair
isn’t just taking care of kids. It’s living with an American family, studying, and
most importantly, a cultural exchange.
