Darta finished high school and had no idea what she wanted to do with her future. Fast forward 2 years and she’s just started her second year as an au pair in the USA and she couldn’t be happier! She’s here to tell us all about her au pair experience so far.
Being an Au Pair in America is the perfect opportunity to try something new, take a break from figuring out your whole future and discovering so much about yourself that you didn’t know before.
Hey everybody!
I am young girl from Latvia and I would like to tell some things about my experience being an Au Pair in United States of America.
My story began when I had just finished high school and I didn’t feel ready to continue my studies. I wanted to do some kind of international program for 1 year to take a break from everything, develop my English skills and travel for a little bit. At first I found one program in Canada but then my local agent told me about the Au Pair in America program. She had been an au pair a couple of years beforehand and she said she would help me apply to this program if I wanted to. At that time, I hadn’t heard much about the program. This is actually quite common in Latvia, most of these international programs are not very well known yet but they are becoming more well-known now and I hope the situation will continue to change in the future and they will become more and more popular! I started researching about being an au pair and I thought it was too good to be true. I wanted to challenge myself and this felt like the perfect choice for me.
The application process took me a few months and then before I knew it I was on a plane heading for the USA. I’m so glad I chose Au Pair in America, from the moment when I got on the plane I relaxed and enjoyed the experience because they had taken care of EVERYTHING, I didn’t need to worry about a thing! After Orientation, I met my host family, I felt very welcomed from the first moment and now they are like my second family. I truly believe we’ll have a lifelong relationship.
I could talk for hours about my experience as an au pair but if somebody asked me to describe this time in one sentence I always say – It was the best thing that could have happened to me after high school. Sometimes people think I’m just a babysitter but it’s so much more than that. This is a program where you have the opportunity to make your host childrens’ childhood special and your host family do the same for you, by making your year as special and memorable as they can. I am now obsessed with traveling too. By the end of my time as an au pair I will have travelled to around 25 States and some other countries as well. There is SO much to see here!
When my agency back in Latvia said that being on this program would change my life I was pretty sceptical about it, I never thought these things could happen to me… but now I can say this is the best time in my life so far!
My advice to future au pairs is the most important thing is to choose the right host family and don’t rush to make that decision. You will live in their house, you will take care of their children and you will be with them at least one year so it’s really important that you get on well with them and feel they are the best family for you. In the end, you will hear the words ‘we love you’ and you’ll know you made the right choice.
Being an Au Pair in America is the perfect opportunity to try something new, take a break from figuring out your whole future and discovering so much about yourself that you didn’t know before.
