Au Pair of the Year Essay - "Through His Eyes"

First Place winner - Sebastián González from Colombia

"Being with Jay has changed my life forever because through his eyes I can see things from a different point of view. I can see the world in a different way."

This morning, when Jay gave me a hug before running to take the bus, I realized how lucky I am. I also had a flashback. I remembered that Friday afternoon in January when I took the train from Penn Station to Washington DC. While I was dragging my suitcase, a lot of thoughts were running inside my head. I had so many questions and so many expectations, but the biggest one was: “What would it be like to live with an autistic teenager?"

I think everybody has a lot to learn from Jay. He enjoys the simple pleasures of life. Taking a shower at night, going for a long walk on the bike trail, or just looking at old family pictures. It is amazing how he can stare at a picture for hours checking every small detail and then draw it with some new original details. Last time he drew an old au pair's picture. There was a girl wearing jeans in that picture, but Jay drew a purple skirt instead. I was so surprised! Especially because she looked better with the skirt than with the jeans.

Jay has the same concerns as any child. He gets worried if his blue pencil is missing, if dad is coming home later than usual, or if the weather doesn’t look good and we will have to stay at home. He taught me that sometimes the silence can be more meaningful than the most clever speech. He taught me that if you go walking to the grocery store, you might see that weird flower you never saw before because driving you were going too fast.

It’s sad to see how some people try to avoid Jay or ignore him. I guess we are sometimes scared about someone who is different. Maybe I used to have the same behavior without noticing it. Thanks to this experience, now I always try to dig in as deep as I can into people’s feelings to understand them.

Richard, my host dad, must be one of the most patient guys I have ever met. All my friends say he is the coolest host father they know… and I think he is. He has my father’s sense of humor. I cannot say he is my boss because he is more like a friend. He is separated, so he has been bringing up Jay as a single father, and I think he is doing a great job. Richard and Jay share a lot of activities. They go to restaurants, on short trips, and every Saturday, they go to the farmers market.

Jay just turned 14. He got braces and glasses. His skin is not as soft as some years ago. His voice is changing, but he says the same sweet innocent words he used to say when he was a little child. He is growing up fast and the way he acts fits less and less with his grown up body. Even if he looks like a man, he is still a boy. His body is just the case for his young spirit.

Jay’s world is a bit different. He does not know about brands or the jet set. He does not know about war or politics. He does not care about money. It is not bad to have contact with these things, because they are part of our society, but occasionally we are so deeply concerned about them that we might be missing other wonderful experiences.

Sometimes I wonder who makes more sense: the one who is working on the computer, or the one who is staring at the moon. Well… I don’t have an answer. It’s just two different ways of living life. However, I used to be the one on the computer, but now, sometimes I stop and go out to watch the moon for a while. That’s the gift Jay has given to me.

I feel proud of being Jay’s au pair. I have learned more form him than he has learned from me. Being with Jay has changed my life forever because through his eyes I can see things from a different point of view. I can see the world in a different way.

Also read essays from our Second and Third Place winners!