InterExchange Au Pair USA presented the 2010 Au Pair of the Year Award to Ilse Jaquire of South Africa at the Annual Conference in New York City.
Ilse Jaquire (left), of South Africa, accepts the Au Pair of the Year Award.[/caption]
Ilse, 24 from Heidelberg, South Africa, was awarded a cash prize and a weekend trip to New York City. She was accompanied by her entire host family at the awards ceremony at the Affinia Manhattan Hotel on November 13th. Ilse gave a moving and emotional acceptance speech in which she thanked her former Local Coordinator, Flavia Arsenault, her current Local Coordinator, Dawn Middleton, the InterExchange staff, and most importantly, her host family.
Both Ilse and her host family independently submitted essays (without the other knowing!) for the 2010 Au Pair of the Year award. Ilse was chosen as the winner from a long list of great candidates from around the country. Ilse's essay will be submitted for the International Au Pair Association's (IAPA) Au Pair of the Year award to be announced at the IAPA Conference Brussels, Belgium in March 2011.
Shortly before becoming an au pair in the U.S., Ilse received a degree in Psychology and Urban Sociology. She plans to become a successful business woman and psychologist one day.
Congratulations, Ilse! You are a great ambassador for the au pair program!
Matthew Graves A fan of independent cinema and proponent of the Oxford comma, Matthew began his career at a Miami-based tech startup before returning to West Virginia University to pursue his M.A. in Foreign Languages. He has worked at InterExchange since 2006 and currently serves as a Marketing Project Manager.
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