Ever heard of the saying “Not all superheroes wear capes”? Every one of us can probably think of a handful of amazing people who deserve to hear this kind of praise on a daily basis. Au Pair in America blogger Steph decided to dedicate this month’s blog to someone that has become very dear to her ever since she first arrived in the USA: Her community counselor Debra.
Cluster meeting fun! Steph and her amazing community counselor in Pittsburgh, Debra!
Any au pair who is taking their au pair experience seriously has for sure done some research on the different au pair agencies. And in the end, they go with the one they liked best. So I’m sure you have or had in the past asked around to girls that had done the program before. Or you read stories and experiences online. Based on this premise I’m sure you have heard the amazing, the bad and the neutral stories about au pair agencies and how they really treat their au pairs.
Some may say they just felt like a number, others might say they really connected with staff from the agency. For me, Au Pair in America totally pulled through when I needed them the most. I was in the middle of one of the most stressful weeks and Au Pair in America totally took one for the team and helped me when I needed it the most.
SO WHAT HAPPENED?
I had been in America about 6 or 7 weeks and had settled in nicely with my host family. My jet lag had finally gotten tolerable and I had unpacked everything. I was making friends, getting used to food and finally had the boys’ schedule down pact. Life was peachy.
Steph’s boys when she first arrived in the USA 😍
Until I received notification that my Nana had a heart attack and had been taken to the hospital. Her prognosis was poor; she had been transferred to the ICU. A few days had passed where I was in limbo at what I was going to do. Was I staying here in America or was I going home? At this stage it was a waiting game to see how her body responded to medical interventions. A couple of days went by and my family told me I should try and get home because she was in a grave condition. She wasn’t responding to treatment. I was up in the in middle of the night for hours for several nights calling family members, looking at flights and so unsure of what was ahead.
BACK TO AUSTRALIA
After my family told me that I should try and come home I reached out to my community counselor here in Pittsburgh, Debra, to inform her that I may be going back to Australia for a little bit. Once she found out about my situation she was amazing. She was seriously a lifesaver. She contacted staff in the Connecticut office whom then organized flights for me so I could go home. They got me on a flight out two days later. And off I was back to Sydney. Unfortunately I didn’t make it home in time. But, I did make it home for the funeral.
I spent just under two weeks at home with family and was told to reach out when I would like to return. It wasn’t exactly a fun two weeks, but it was nice to be back home and see my family and friends. With ease once again I reached out and I was booked on a flight back to Pittsburgh. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me that looking for flights and stressing over money was something that I didn’t even have to think about during this time. I got to focus on spending time with my family and helping with funeral arrangements and other arrangements for my Pop.
NOT ALL SUPERHEROES WEAR CAPES
Not only did Au Pair in America organize my flights, but my insurance also helped me out financially. How amazing is that! And there were so many other things that I didn’t have to stress over because it was already taken care of, which was such a big help.
My community counselor rose above and beyond. The support that she showed me during this time was absolutely amazing. It’s so awesome to have an “LCC” that genuinely cares about ‘her girls’ and is completely invested in them. She didn’t think twice about helping me out. She worked beyond the hours she needed to, and knew the people she needed to contact. I really couldn’t thank her enough. I am so lucky to have Debra as my community counselor. So this is a massive shout out to her. She is always organized, knows what is going on and gives 100% effort in her job. It doesn’t even seem like a job to her, she does it with such grace and ease. She truly is amazing.
This is just one example of I’m sure hundreds, if not thousands of stories that we au pairs have of our awesome community counselors. So to all the LCC’s out there, I just want to say thank you for caring so thoughtfully and genuinely about us. It means so much to us that we have a second mum in America looking out for us and supporting us when we need it.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
Thanks, Au Pair in America!
