Au Pair in America is a cultural exchange program in which the participants leave their home countries for a year and travel to the USA to live with a host family and work with them as childcare providers. They receive payment for their work, and they are required to study. The purpose of the program is giving young people from different countries the opportunity to experience the American culture and in many cases, improve their English language skills. 

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I started my Au Pair experience when I was 22 years old. After been contacted by a beautiful family from Boston, I traveled to the USA in June of 2014.

My most important accomplishment during this program was to efficiently take care of my three host kids at the same time for one year, keeping them safe during all the time I worked with them. Besides, I helped them to improve their Spanish, teaching them new vocabulary and everyday expressions for having better communication.

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As an Au pair, I lived great moments and adventures, I met other participants from all over the world, and some of them are still my best friends. Besides, I learned to love my host kids as if they were my little siblings; I enjoyed playing and taking care of them every day, and most importantly I took my job of protecting them as valuable treasures very seriously.

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On the other hand, this program allowed me to study subjects that I have always been passionate about. During the winter season, I studied a course in Anthropology and Human Rights at the Harvard Extension School, and during the spring I could travel around the USA thanks to a class about American History and Culture.

Not all the situations were easy and enjoyable, the snow blizzards and low temperatures of the winter made me feel homesick; many times, I felt like I wanted to quit and come back to my country. However, I decided to be strong and keep the commitment that I had made to myself; I wanted to complete my Au Pair year because I knew that at the end it was going to be worth it, and I was going to become a woman who overcomes challenges. So I did.

In general, my time as an Au Pair was one of the most beneficial experiences that I have ever lived. It made me turn into a more mature and self-confident person who knows how to take responsibilities. I also learned that no matter how small or big a job can be, it needs to get done efficiently and in the best way possible. I remember that every morning when I woke up, I repeated this to myself: “Do your job not as if it were for men, but as if it were for God.”  

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

• Colossians 3:23.

I do not know if I was the best Au Pair that my host family had, what I know is that I did my job in the best way I could, and I will forever be thankful for that opportunity.