How Babysitting Guided Me to My Future

How Babysitting Guided Me to My Future

By Laura Haigler, Contributing Writer

I started babysitting when I was twelve years old as a pastime. I gradually began sitting more often, sometimes up to 20 hours per week, and have several families for whom I have sat for many years.

I first looked as babysitting simply as a way to earn some extra spending money, until I realized the impact I made on the children I sat for. They looked up to me, and I liked the feeling of being a role model. This would not only inform how I acted around the kids, but it also influenced me to make smart decisions all the time.

During my junior year of high school I started the college application process and began thinking about what type of career I wanted to pursue, and the thought that kept coming to mind was something involving children.

There was part of me that thought, "What if I am not good enough to be a teacher, or have all the qualities it takes?" Before studying to become a teacher I thought some experience would be good to have under my belt. I looked for summer jobs and the one that caught my eye was a camp counselor position at the school that I attend, Beaver Country Day School, which turns into a camp during the summer. I thought that it was the perfect place for me to be a counselor. I was ecstatic when I got the job. I also found out that before camp started I would be traveling to South Africa with three of my friends to volunteer at an AID's orphanage. At the time I didn't think that it would have a major impact on my life, and I would look at it as just another trip, but I was wrong.

When I walked into the Baphumelele Orphanage in Kayaletcha, South Africa, I saw a room crowded with 40 babies and toddlers spread across a linoleum floor. Although the children live at the orphanage, the space they have is barely bigger than the nursery at Beaver. The walls were painted cardboard blue and there were soiled mats on the ground. There were no shelves overflowing with toys, just a stuffed animal or two on the floor, grabbed from the hands of a younger child, taken by the strongest. The kids' faces were sad. I saw tears still left in some of their eyes.

There were three women in the cooking area, none of them holding children in their arms, teaching them how to color, making them feel special. When I walked in, I almost felt short of breath, like an intruder coming into their home. All the kids ran to me like they had known me their whole life, raising their arms, wanting me to swoop them up.

My trip to Baphumelele clarified my thoughts in wanting to have a career that involves children when I'm older. One of the skills needed for this career, patience, I learned at a young age. Having two older sisters, I had to wait for everything -- to get my ears pierced, to watch PG-13 movies, and to stay out late at night. While babysitting I have learned to have patience with kids when they are misbehaving. At Baphumelele I also learned to have stamina. All my attention had to be with the children when I was with them. Having had this experience in South Africa makes me confident that I will be able to rely on these strengths in the future. Working at Baphumelele was much more rewarding than anything I have ever experienced. The smiles on the children's faces were priceless, along with the trust they placed in me.

The rest of the summer I spent as a counselor at Beaver where I supervised a group of 18 five year olds. All the skills I used at the orphanage were also called upon at camp. In the fall of senior year I took a developmental psychology course, which allowed me to intern in the nursery at my school and follow one child specifically. The class also spent a lot of time on childhood development, which I find very interesting.

By the end of the summer I knew that I wanted to be a teacher after college. Recently I have often been asked about my college plans and what I want to major in. When I say elementary education my babysitting clients always get excited and tell me that I would make an amazing teacher. All my experience with children, and the encouragement of many people I have worked for has led me to the decision explore education in college.

-Laura Haigler is a senior at Beaver Country Day in Brookline, Mass. Laura is off to college in the Fall to pursue her passion, early childhood education. She contributes her many years of babysitting and caring for children to helping her become more independent, acquire patience and find her college major. She has been babysitting for over five years and loves all of the children she has cared for.