Nanny Transitions INA Scholarship Information

Here are the guidelines for the Nanny Transitions INA Conference Scholarship.

In order to qualify for the Nanny Transitions INA Conference Scholarship, you must meet the following qualifications.

You must be working as a nanny a minimum of 24 hours a week.                    

(If you are a nanny in transition, looking for a new position, please let us know)

*You must be a member of INA as of February 10, 2015.

You must go to the Nanny Transitions page on Facebook and like the page.
*If we choose your essay and you have not liked the page you will be eliminated.

 * By submitting this essay you are committing to attend the 2015 INA Annual Conference.

INA Board of Directors, conference speakers and workshop presenters, conference sponsors who receive complimentary registration, the 2014 and 2015 INA Nanny of the Year award recipients are not eligible for this prize.

Previous scholarship winners are not eligible.

To Apply:   Submit an essay on one of the following topics:

 1. What would you say to someone if they said "Oh, you babysit for a living?"

2.  What was the most valuable advice anyone ever gave you and how has it impacted you personally and professionally?

 3.  What do you expect to take away from conference this year?

4.  If your present Nanny job ended suddenly and without warning, would you handle it on your own or seek advice and/or help from someone else, and why?

            Your essay must be at minimum 500-1,000 words.    (No more than 1,000 and, no less than 500)

 Do not include information in your essay that would identify you, such as the name of your city. We would like to keep the submissions as anonymous as possible.

       Essay must be submitted between January 26 and February 7, 2015 and will be announced on February 10, 2015.

    Use spell check and count your words.
    Recipient will be chosen by content and presentation of essay.

 There will be 1 Scholarship awarded.
 This scholarship can be used by a new conference attendee
or a previous conference attendee.
 It can NOT be gifted to someone.

 Scholarship recipients will be announced on the Nanny Transitions blog and  Facebook page and notified via phone and/or email on Monday, February 10,  2015.
 You will have 24 hours to respond and if you do not respond, we will choose another recipient.

Essay submissions should be sent to: Nannytransitions@gmail.com

If you have any questions, feel free to email us your questions
before you submit your essay.

nannytransitions@gmail.com

Please note: Nannytransitions email is not monitored by Glenda or Susan during the time of the essay scholarship. Glenda’s trusted and long time friend and colleague, Gael Ann Dow (professional nanny over 25 year) changes the password and graciously monitors the email, removes identifying information from the essays and sends them to our personal email. This keeps the submissions completely anonymous.

               By submitting this essay you are committing to attending the 2015 INA Conference.

INA 30th Annual Conference

April 23-26, 2015
Cancun, Mexico

- See more at

http://www.nanny.org/annual-conference/2015-ina-annual-conference

      You understand that you are responsible for your transportation to and from the conference, your hotel room and any other expenses incurred at the 2014 INA Conference.

     You have the necessary travel documents to travel outside of the USA.

    You have discussed this with your employers and they have agreed to give you the time off to attend the conference.

This scholarships is sponsored by Nanny Transitions and partially funded by a donation from Susan Fordham*
Susan Fordham is one of last years’ scholarship recipients who wanted to pay it forward and Nanny Transitions is so very grateful.

Paying it Forward for 2015 INA Conference

Paying it Forward with an INA Conference Scholarship

By Susan Fordham

MOVING FORWARD

When I made the choice to become a Nanny many years ago, I was very fortunate to find appreciative families who desperately needed my help.  I worked for a Scientist Mom and a Post Graduate Dad for many years, and stayed friends with them long after my Nanny days were over.  Then, as the economy began to worsen, I worked for households where both parents were professionals and were able to leave for work each morning with peace of mind that their prized possessions were being taken care of and loved.

 I moved to the West Coast and found lifestyles to be very different than the East Coast, where I was born and raised.  That meant I had to change my approach and find new ways to “sell” myself.  I advertised in a local paper and a family contacted me from only 4 miles from my home.  Mom was still pregnant and was looking for a “Mother’s Helper”, a few days/week for only a few hours.  I began working for this family when the little boy was 2 weeks old.  I worked 20-25 hours/week and I felt ‘invaluable’ to this Mom. I worked for them for 5 months.  One day, the bottom fell out from under me – she no longer felt she needed me, paid me 6 weeks severance pay and I was gone.  Needless to say, I was devastated.  That’s when I was pointed in the direction of Nanny Transitions, owned by Glenda Propst, and my outlook on life changed!

Nanny Transitions offered me more answers than I had questions for.  Glenda seemed to know the right thing to say to me, at precisely the right time.  She opened up an entirely new venue into the Nanny world, ones that I never knew existed.  One of these new venues was International Nanny Association (INA) and their annual conference.  My finances still suffering from the loss of my job, Glenda informed me that Nanny Transitions sponsored a scholarship contest for new members, which could be won by writing an essay.  I won the contest and my registration was paid for by Marni Kent.  I still remember the day I received the phone call from Glenda – it was like I had won the lottery! 

And at that very moment, my life took a turn and I have not looked back since!

That’s why I decided to “Pay it Forward”

Who does this?  Why do some people feel compelled to do that?  Why am I doing this?  These are some of the questions that people have asked me since I decided to ‘pay it forward’ for the scholarship fund for INA conference.

Marni Kent (THE NANNY MENTOR) chose to pay it forward and that gave me the opportunity to enter the Nanny Transitions Essay contest for an opportunity to attend my first INA conference in Los Angeles in March 2014.
My essay was about what it meant to me to be a Nanny.  Much to my amazement and surprise, I won!  My registration was paid for and I was on my way – on an incredible journey that made such an impact on my life, it’s hard to imagine my life without the people I met and the education I received in one weekend. That conference and that experience has had such an impact on my life that when I realized that I could not attend the INA conference in Cancun in 2015, I decided that I wanted to help make it possible for someone else to go in my place. 

My heart and spirit will be in Cancun, but someone else will take my place physically.  To that person, I want to say…The people you will meet will open their hearts to you and will become your forever friends.  The education you will receive will be immeasurable.  And you will have memories that will last you a lifetime.  Be prepared to take lots of pictures, take lots of notes and be prepared to laugh…A LOT!!  In other words, ENJOY YOURSELF!

It is an honor and a privilege for me to join forces with Nanny Transitions to  provide this scholarship opportunity for someone else.

Details regarding the scholarship will be announced by Nanny Transitions on January 26^th but in the meantime, you can complete 2 scholarship requirements by being sure that you have liked the
Nanny Transitions “Facebook page”And that  your INA membership is current.
Then when the details are announced you will be ready to write your essay and one lucky person will be one step closer to attending INA in Cancun April 23-26, 2015

My Biggest Challenge and How Nanny Transitions Helped Me by Lisa Willis

Here is the fourth in our series of the top 5 Scholarship Essays.
This one is by Lisa Willis.
She answers these 2 questions:


What has been your biggest challenge as you have gone through your job transition?

What has Nanny Transitions help you learn from it?

I think the biggest challenge has been to accept the change in circumstance in my life and nurture

myself. As a nanny I’ve always put others first without thinking about myself. Last year was full of

surprises; it’s been an emotional rollercoaster ride to say the least. In June I will be retiring as a nanny

due to an impending disability.

 I’m retiring sadly but not by choice. I was diagnosed with a hereditary degenerative eye disease over

11 years ago. My eye sight was stable for 10 years and Jan.2013 was the first sign of change and on May

1st of 2013 I was told I could no longer drive. My peripheral vision classifies me as legally blind but my

central vision in my left eye seems to be holding on for now. My current employers refused to let me

quit. I’m forever thankful for their trust in me and wanting to keep me on board for as long as possible.

We had to quickly brainstorm as you know driving is a major part of a nanny’s role. My awesome

husband quickly jumped in and became our “chauffer” and is now running his company at home (mostly

from our car, when we’re at play dates, school and other activities). My current family and I have come

to terms with the fact that our employment will end June 2014 due to my need to prepare and get ready

for what lays ahead. I won’t lie and say it’s been easy, at times I’m scared but I see it only as a change in

circumstances. I’m blessed to have the greatest husband on earth and I’m surrounded by an awesome

support team.

One of my main concerns is the impact this change will have on my charges. I have been with them for

3 ½ years. The family will be relocating as well, so they will have many changes happening at the same

time in June.

Nanny Transitions has been an amazing resource as no one knows what a nanny deals with as much

as another nanny. I was able to vent my worries about the kids and their future. Glenda gave me so

many good suggestions so many I couldn’t write them all down fast enough as we spoke on the phone.

She had so many great ideas for me to implement. Sharing and voicing my concerns and fears out loud

helped me to analyze and put into perspective what I can and can’t change or control. This really woke

me up to the fact that I need to make these last few months special and memorable for the kids. I feel

it’s also helped me be more present and intentional with everything I do and say with the kids on a daily

Glenda emailed me many resources to read and ponder on. She has a big heart and just talking with her

you can feel the love and passion she has for her fellow nannies or the Nanny Sisterhood as some call us.

I’ve been a nanny for fifteen wonderful years and will cherish all the memories for many years to come.

I’m learning to take it one day at a time.