JEREMY, 26 YEARS

Hello! My name is Jeremy. I’m 24 years old. I am single, with no children. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Guidance & Counseling (double degree program). I also entered graduate school, taking up Master of Arts in Education, majoring in Guidance and Counseling. I only need to finish writing my thesis to graduate. My work experiences in the past three years include being a Guidance Counselor for grade school students, Teacher for high school students, and Virtual Assistant for an American real estate investor. I am fluent in speaking English and I am comfortable to work with foreign nationals. Working as a counselor was an honor and a privilege, because I get to have a job where I can do something that I love, which is listening to other people, and trying to help them as best as I can with their personal, social, and academic needs. The fact that I was also assigned as a counselor for grade school students was a big bonus for me, because I really like kids, and I feel like kids love me too. Aside from my experience directly working with kids as a counselor, I have additional childcare experience at home, taking care of my 2-year-old niece since she was born. We live under the same roof so I am basically like one of her nannies who also happens to be her uncle. My niece has Down syndrome, so aside from my internship experience working at a Special Education center and visiting an orphanage that caters to children with special needs when I was a college student, I also have direct experience taking care of a child with special needs through my niece. Growing up in a traditional lower middle class Filipino family of six, we have to work hard for everything. That’s how it always was. We didn’t have a housekeeper. It was always me, my mom, and my siblings doing all the work in our house, and that shaped me into the independent and hardworking person that I am today. From a young age, we were taught to be responsible by doing simple household chores, like doing the dishes, cleaning the house, and even handwashing our own clothes. With this, I can help you organize your home to make it tidy and clean. Aside from being industrious, my parents also raised us to be respectful and polite at all times. During my free time, I love watching movies and reality shows–I am a self-proclaimed cinephile and Survivor superfan. I can cook simple meals, and currently I am trying to learn how to properly bake, which is something that I have always wanted to do. I love singing, with my guitar, or just karaoke. I love board games and trivia games, because they stimulate my brain, and I could play it with my friends, or even alone. I’m not that creative but I have always been fascinated with arts and crafts, so I try to be artsy and crafty sometimes. When I’m bored or stressed, I like taking a stroll or riding a bicycle, because it gives me inner peace. I think these are some of the things that I could share a lot of moments with with my future host family. I want to become an au pair mainly because being an au pair would be hitting two birds with one stone for me: I will get to get out of my comfort zone, explore the world, meet different kinds of people, and learn other cultures and languages, while also doing something that I’m most passionate about, which is helping other people, and working with children, who I know will remind me everyday of many lessons in life. I believe I have all the necessary ingredients to be a successful and great au pair: a balance of academic knowledge in childcare and child development, independence and grit, hard work, family-orientedness, and technical and personal experience working with different kinds of children and people in general.