Nanny in Guelph, Ontario

Hi! My name\'s Colleen and I\'m a 22 year old female who\'s currently trying to decide what she wants to do when she \'grows up.\' What do I mean? Well, I\'ve decided that the degree program I\'ve been following isn\'t, for lack of a better phrase, what I want to do when I grow up. Instead of spending the money on a degree that I don\'t love, I want to take some time, work hard and figure out exactly what I want from life. So where does that leave me? Well, I have a diploma in culinary arts, a total of 4 years in university in various fields (including hospitality and zoology) and an IB diploma. I speak English, and while I was fluent in French I\'ve afraid I\'ve lost most of it... oh, and I can barter/grocery shop in Kiswahili (not that it does me much good in Canada!). To keep myself busy when I\'m not studying I maintain healthy amazon river aquariums, I practice photography skills and sell prints on occasion, I cook and I explore my city. I have a knack for gardening and am generally up for anything that\'ll make the people around me smile. I love to travel- my family spent close to 8 years living on the eastern coast of Africa which enabled me to see a number of places that most people have never even heard of. When all of this isn\'t keeping me busy, you can usually find me on my bike exploring my city. I\'m a good person, people have said that I have a big heart. I believe that there\'s good in everyone and I do my best to search for it, even if it\'s hard to find. If I decide to take on a challenge I give it my all, and I\'m not afraid to ask for help. I come from an interesting home- my father is in mining engineering and so we were forced to move every 6 months to 2 years. My mother found this stressful, which led to me taking on more responsibilities as a young child in order to give her a break. These duties often included making dinner for the family, caring for my younger brother (and frequently his friends), arranging for the two of us to be picked up from school and ensuring that bills had been paid on time. Most of all, I think it\'s important that you know that I\'m a happy person- I like to begin every day with a smile, I believe that laughter is truly important and there\'s nothing more enjoyable than knowing that the people around me are as happy as I am. So, if you\'re wondering why you should consider me... There are quite a few reasons I\'d be an awesome nanny, I\'ll list a few for you to consider: - I grew up with dozens of cousins which means I\\\'m constantly surrounded by children - I\'m a trained chef- dietary restrictions are something I find fun to work with instead of challenging - I\'m educated, well read and enjoy expanding my horizons - I\'m a child at heart - I\'m well travelled - I have a great sense of humor and love to see the positive side of any situation. I believe there\'s always a silver lining. - Kids love me. This sounds cliched, but they do. My family calls me the pied piper because they tend to follow me around. - I have a great sense of humor - I love being asked questions - I\'m organized, sometimes to the point where my friends find it annoying (seriously, you should see my day planner) - I\'m overly tidy and I love to clean (I\'m the only student I\'ve ever known who\'s dorm room was actually spotless) - I was the accident prone kid who got into everything, and probably cost my mother a few years of her life. As a result, I\'m no stranger to broken bones, skinned knees, teenage hormones and the other not-so-lovely things that come along with being a kid. Well, that\'s enough for now. I hope to hear from you soon! While I have not had any paid experience, I grew up in a large family with dozens of cousins (literally), spent a few years volunteering as a girl guide leader for a troop of 30 and have held quite a few babysitting positions (1-5 children) over the years. In addition, my mother was a childcare worker when I was young, so I was exposed to large groups of children from a young age.