JANINE, 32 ÅR

Dear Host Family,
I hope this letter finds you well. I like to begin by first introducing myself. My name is Janine S. Cabasag, 28 years old, I hail from a city in the Southernmost part of the Philippines called Zamboanga. I’m 3rd among the 5 siblings. Growing up our family has to worked hard to provide for our needs. However, what we are lacking in material possessions, my parents make sure we have abundance of love and respect for each other. They taught us the value of strong faith, perseverance, respect and love. I grew up in a community where people look out for each other. The youngs and the elderlies alike are treated with respect and dignity. These values shaped and influenced the way I interact with people around me.

Most of my friends describe me as reliable, hardworking, patient, caring and artistic. But more than that I would say that Im a smart-worker. I am systematic and organized so that I can easily finish my duties efficiently and effectively. I am also innovative, dynamic and a fast-learner. At home, my siblings and I took turns of doing the household chores which includes cooking, washing the dishes, cleaning the house, doing the laundry, watering the plants, and taking care of our pets (dogs, chicken and fishes). I must say that I’m an expert at doing all these.

Academically, I am a graduate of BS in Chemistry at Western Mindanao State University. During this time I was working part time as a student assistant in our college chemical stockroom to help with my school expenses. I I did errands in our community as a youth leader. Being a youth leader entails good personal relation skills, patience, versatility and good problem solving skills. I became adept in assessing, planning, organizing, implementing and evaluating outcomes of every event that we organize. I listened to the clamor of the youth and weigh things to be able to come up with a plan. I organize meetings, solve disputes among youth, deal with other agencies , interact with different kind of personalities, bargain for win-win solution projects, organize sports and other socialization activities, promote healthy living by tapping related groups to conduct activities such as zumba every weekend and diet management forum in our community. I’m a believer of quality service that’s why I make sure that I meet the expectations of the constituents that I serve by performing well as a public servant.

After graduation, I was hired as a service crew in a famous fast food restaurant in our city. It was quite far from where I live so I have to rent a place to live near the city. I learned how to become independent and self reliant since I was away from my family. As a service crew, I was tasked to clean and sanitize dishes, utensils, consistently keeping adequate supplies on hand for expected customer loads, replenish condiments, beverages and supplies while maintaining cleanliness of service areas, take orders and serve food to customers, do the food preparation and cook the food following standards and greet customers cheerfully and answer phone calls from customers and finally clean the comfort room when it is my scheduled to clean. I was fascinated working in a food industry and found cooking interesting so I applied and luckily got hired as an assistant cook in a fancy Italian restaurant in our city. I got the chance to prepare the ingredients for pasta dishes such as spaghetti bolognese, pasta carbonara, lasagna and baked penne pasta. I was delighted to experience how to make the sauce for different pasta dishes. Cooking has become my new favorite and seeing that our foods are enjoyed by the customers inspire me to learn more and be better in this field. Sadly, pandemic came and the said restaurant was hardly affected until it declared bankruptcy.

I searched for another job and was offered to do child care of two children from the neighborhood. The eldest is 5 years old and the youngest is 1 year and 1 month. I was tasked to give them bath, cook and feed them, give their vitamins, play with them. When I'm done feeding and putting the youngest to sleep, I tutor the eldest, teach him the basics such as the alphabet, different shapes, body parts simple math such as addition and subtraction, and to write his name and read simple words and phrases. My most unforgettable moment during this employment is that I was able to use my creativity when I prepared the venue to celebrate the first birthday of Kody (the youngest) It was a quarantine birthday and there were only few family guests but I may say that they were impressed with the decoration and table preparation. They also enjoyed the dishes I cooked. It was an extra effort but I enjoyed serving and preparing for them. I was glad to apply my creativity, systematic and cooking skills. Even went an extra mile to make a photo booth and conduct a first birthday photoshoot for the child. I just find joy being with children. They have the purest heart, genuine heart and gentlest spirit. Their cheerfulness is contagious that reminds me that the most valuable things in life are free.

During my spare time, I do the things which I’m passionate about which are reading (it takes me to places), taking care of my cactus and succulents (it calms me and sends me a feeling of fulfillment), playing with our dogs (they are so cute, smart and loving, I love them like my brothers and sisters), and watching animes which I’m fond of since I was 10 years old. With all of these life experiences and the soft and hard skills which I have been trained and learned through the years, I’m confident that I can handle the duties and responsibilities of an Au pair. May you give me the chance to be a part and to be of service to your family. I would love to learn about your culture and I’m hopeful that we will be able to develop a good working relationship. Thank you so much for taking time in reading my letter. It was my pleasure writing to you and looking forward to hear from you soon.

Love,
Janine