Dear Family,
My name is Ellyn Mae but people who knows me well, calls me, Lyn. I am a 20 year-old (female) Filipino student. I currently live in the Philippines, where I am 2 years short of completing my undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of the Philippines, although right now I decided to take a Gap year to do volunteering activities locally and worldwide, maybe do some work and travel in between, or internships and whatever chances and opportunities to experience another culture because I haven't tried travelling and I've never been out of my country before. And to be able to participate in something fun and just venturing life and working with other people from around the globe, be it for a few weeks or a number of months can really educate me, inspire me (especially my host family) and give me a new perspective in life beyond anything I have ever imagined can possibly influence my future career path. I currently live in a small town, Tacurong City (approximately 98,000 inhabitants), and is situated on central Mindanao and 300 mi away from the hometown of our newly elected president, Rudy Duterte.
I'm an only child, and my parents are, Elson and Ailyn, my father is a retired Philippine Army and my mother is a teacher. In about a year or two I plan to pursue medicine, after graduation from my bachelors degree. So, at the moment, I would like to take some time out of academics to have a different life experience, and to have time to calmly reflect on my future academic/professional orientation. To this end, I think spending a year abroad would be particularly interesting.
My first language is, of course, Tagalog/Filipino/Hiligaynon, and I am also fluent in English. I started learning English in kindergarten, as it is the probably the second language of the Filipinos. And I attended private schools from Kindergarten up until High School. And in addition, I used to take up a bachelors degree in English with a major in creative writing before I shifted to BS Biology and I have been taking courses taught in English at my university.
I am nevertheless aware that learning a language within a classroom context is by itself, incomplete. So, in order to really be at ease in Japanese, French, German, and other foreign language, I feel that a cultural immersion would do me a lot of good. Through my language teachers, (most of whom have studied abroad) I have learnt a lot about different cultures. Hence my desire to have first hand experience of international cultural life. I am particularly interested in experiencing family life in any country, as long as it offers a cultural context that is undoubtedly different from mine. For this reason, I would very much like to find a nice family to live with and work for.
When it comes to child care experience, I have looked after children in both formal and informal contexts. During my high school years, as part of my extra curricular activities, I volunteered and spent periods of working and doing outreach programs in orphanages, home for the aged and even in poor areas in my country. Among others, I provided after-school tuition to children aged between 5 to 10 years. I also organized for them and took part in recreational indoor and outdoor activities: we sang, danced, played games, role played, drew, painted, and narrated stories. We also visited the public library, the local animal park, went out on picnics and a camping trip. And I am an active member of the Rotaract Club both in my University and in our town.
Although I was an only child, I have cousins whom are younger than me and we're really close so I can comfortably say that I sincerely enjoy spending time with children.
When it comes to leisure, I take pleasure in the simple things in life. I enjoy being outdoors, being with my friends, going for walks, visiting places I have not been to, and reading a good book. I also enjoy painting and on dull or rainy days, I often propose drawing and painting activities to my cousins and our neighbour's children whenever they come for company. And as a former BA English student, I love to read and write. I also love blogging and I enjoy social media a lot. So maybe you can guess that I'm a really sociable person.
As far as preferences are concerned, I am looking for a live-in arrangement with a host family, that would be happy to have me stay with and work for them for at least 3 months. I would also prefer looking after children aged between 6 months to 12 years.
Lastly, although I am quite flexible,I would prefer to have working hours that would allow me to rest and travel to your country to learn about it's culture and people.I would be happy to have the opportunity to speak with you, answer whatever questions you may have about me or my childcare experiences, to learn more about your familyyour interests and to know more about what you expect from the au pair arrangement.
Thank you very much for your interest in my application!
I look forward to meet you.