Hannah had a great job working in a nursery in the UK but when she realised she could combine her passion of looking after children with living and studying in the USA, she simply couldn’t resist applying to be an Au Pair in America!
Hi Everyone,
I’m Hannah and I’m so happy to be sharing my au pair experience with you! I decided to become an au pair because I’d always wanted to experience life in the USA and I love looking after children. I was already working in a nursery and had a few years of childcare experience so when I saw the Au Pair in America opportunity, I looked into it more and really liked what I was hearing/reading so I decided to keep going with it and started getting my application together.
ORIENTATION
My Orientation was very busy and there was so much information to take in. We got started right away and it was really interesting to see so many people from so many different countries all in the same room, doing the same thing, and experiencing the same feelings as you! It was easier to talk to people because of this and it was really reassuring knowing we were all in this together. I was so nervous, anxious, and excited to meet my host family. They picked me up from the airport in Colorado, they were really nice and had bought me flowers which made me feel instantly welcome. My flight arrived fairly late at night so when we got back to their house, I went straight to bed. The next day I went on the school run with them and hung out with my host mum and really got to know her. I’m so grateful we got to spend that time to get to know each other as we now have a really close and great relationship.
MY EXPERIENCE SO FAR…
My experience so far has been great. I am the family’s first au pair so we are figuring this new experience out together! I take the children to their activities, on play dates, and we hang out at the house playing and doing activities. I’ve made some really close friends through the various activities my host kids take part in and we try to make sure we schedule lots of play dates altogether!
TRAVELLING
I’ve been in the U.S for 10 months now and I have been lucky enough to travel with my host family to a few places and I also travelled to California with a friend I made at Orientation! She lives in Virginia and I’m in Colorado so we met in California and then she travelled by herself for a couple days and then came to stay with me for a few days. This trip was definitely one of the highlights of my year so far. We hadn’t seen each other since Orientation and although we FaceTime and chat ALL the time, it was amazing to spend this vacation with her and get to explore this beautiful part of the USA together!
MY ADVICE TO FUTURE AU PAIRS
If you’re thinking about becoming an Au Pair in America and you keep thinking about it, my advice would be to start the application process now! I started applying to the program, then changed my mind, and then a few months later I decided I actually really wanted this and so I carried on with the application process and never thought about changing my mind again. So, if you’re thinking about it, then great! I definitely recommend it and you’ll learn a lot about yourself!
