Story By: Jacqueline Clark
I became a nanny for two primary reasons: the money and flexible hours. Notice, my reasoning DOES NOT include my love of children.
Before I became a nanny I was strapped for cash. When I was not in class I was working, hitting up Grandma to make my rent payment, or searching for an internship that offered more sustainability than ‘academic credit’.
Chapman junior Sophie Macaluso makes seventeen dollars an hour. She is the nanny of two little girls who are eight and ten years in age. Macaluso has never worked an internship, retail position, or served in the food service industry.
The “broke college student” stereotype is not a myth. In fact, it is a reality for many struggling students. According to the Huffington Post, four out of five college students are working a part time jobs and nearly forty percent rely on financial aid to pay tuition.
When a friend of mine told me about nannying as a way of making money, I did not take her seriously. Babysitting? That did not seem lucrative. In fact, it made me reflect on my high school babysitting experience where I was offered a dismal sum and a few slices of pizza to watch a bunch of rambunctious boys.
She attested that nannying was a completely different ball game. She said it was something that would provide more than nightly dinners of ramen and drives home to do laundry and grocery shopping through my parent’s pantry. That sold me.
As a college senior, I have worked tireless internships, low-paying desk jobs, and other various positions that often result in minimum compensation for my work. To me, this was what being a college student was all about. I was always under the impression that it was normal for college students to struggle financially while building a resume and gaining career experience.
I decided to forgo looking for a fall internship this year and instead signed up for Care.com, an online website that connects families and nannies. I made a profile and began applying. It was not long before I received offers from several local families.
So I decided to give the whole nannying thing a shot and guess what? I found out that I kind of actually love it. Oh, and the kids are not that bad after all.
Currently, I am nannying for a family in Irvine and making fifteen dollars an hour, plus gas compensation. I am pleased with my decision to become a nanny. I get to spend time with an energetic six-year-old that loves snickerdoodle cookies, Legos, and everything superhero related. The perks of this job far outweigh any other position I have ever held.
Being a nanny is not a great ‘resume builder’. But If you have exhausted your internship credits, are looking for easy money, or a laid back job, why not run around with a couple six year olds in your spare time? You are getting paid for it after all.
