Profiles of Childhood: Rachel Policar, Opera Singer and Sitter, New York, NY

Policar poses in the trees beside the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center

POLICAR POSES IN THE TREES BESIDE THE METROPOLITAN OPERA HOUSE AT LINCOLN CENTER

As told to Lela Nargi

“I grew up in a town called Issaquah, WA, 20 miles east of Seattle. Then I went to Arizona State University for my undergraduate degrees in vocal performance and musical theater before moving to New York five years ago.

Now I am a coloratura soprano, which is a classification of soprano that sings a high and fast repertoire. It’s a little bit challenging because you’re expected to be perfect at all times, so it requires a tremendous amount of dedication and practice and time spent learning and working on your craft. But I love it, and it allows me to play a lot of fun roles.

I just sang my first Gilda in Rigoletto by Verdi this summer. She’s more of a lyric soprano but she has some coloratura elements to her, and that stretched me out as a singer and gave me a whole new bag of tricks to pull from. I’ll be doing my fourth Gretel this January with the Knoxville Opera’s outreach program. I get hired more often than not to play very young girls, because I don’t look super old and I’m on the small side. I love playing children. It helps me relate to the children I babysit for, and they love when I show them pictures of myself in costume as a little girl. They think that’s the coolest thing they’ve ever seen.

Upon request, I’ve shown a couple of my kids YouTube videos of me singing. One little girl I babysit for regularly was obsessed with a recording I have of West Side Story and insisted that we sing together. Her mother asked me recently if I teach voice, and that would be the ultimate reward for me—to take a child I’ve babysat for and introduce her to the world I live in most of the time.

Mostly, though, kids have a lot of questions about opera singing. The number one question hands-down is: Can you break a glass with your voice? It’s actually very difficult to do that; you have to sing a really high note very loudly. I can’t do it yet, but maybe someday! Then they ask me how I make so much sound come out of my mouth. They ask me a lot of questions about costumes, and they want to know everything about opera, which is great. I like to think I’m building the next generation of opera lovers.

My first teacher, Phyllis Peterson, was 80 years old when I met her. She had fire engine red hair, and she was about 5’1”—a tiny powerhouse. Her energy and smarts, especially when she was telling me stories about her amazing life and career, made me feel like I was part of something special. She encouraged me to try things I wouldn’t necessarily have wanted to do on my own and helped me to find myself. Her passion was inspiring. And I’ve come to realize that what I’m able to do really is special.

Being in a creative field, opera singers are by nature emotional beings and very in touch with what we’re thinking and feeling—in much the same way that a child is. Children have this wonderful innocence and generosity; they’re not afraid to share with you everything that’s going on. Singers have so much of that in what we do, too, and I love that kind of interaction with the kids I babysit for. I also love playing games with them. Inevitably, I’ll be shocked by something they’ve thought up, and frustrated and challenged. It opens your imagination to be able to relate to kids on that level and not have that fear of judgment. I’m not afraid to get on the floor and roll around.

You have to be physically fit to have the stamina to make it through an opera. Your vocal chords are two little muscle membranes that sit in your throat, and they require exercise and strengthening and just as much practice as running football sprints does. To sing those amazingly long phrases over an orchestra, opera singers have the same lung capacity as some Olympic swimmers. But it’s really fun to open your mouth and have this enormous sound come out. You get to wear these beautiful clothes, and put on wigs, and have people do your makeup, and take on these characters that sometimes are wildly different from who you are. Yes, it’s a profession but we also get to play for a living.”

Photograph by Roy Beeson

Meet UrbanSitter for Android

Calling all Android fans! Everything you love about UrbanSitter and more is now available on Android. Find, schedule, and pay your favorite babysitters and nannies with a few convenient taps. It’s one small swipe to find a sitter, one big relief for parentkind.

Share the Love to Earn Babysitting Credits!

Now, you can ‘share the love’ and send friends $25 to try UrbanSitter. When your friend hires their first babysitter, you’ll earn a $25 babysitting credit! We’re integrating with Google’s new App Invites feature, so your Android will automatically suggest top contacts from Gmail, Google+ and your phone.

UrbanSitter Android AppReady to experience the UrbanSitter Android app? Download the app in the Play Store now. Happy tapping!

Babysitters seeking jobs: This app does not yet include tools for job seekers. Please sign up at urbansitter.com in the meantime.

Meet Kendall: Chicago-native, Vanderbilt Student and Babysitter!

DSC_0399

 

With over 35 glowing reviews on UrbanSitter, it comes as no surprise that Kendall has an upbeat and bright personality. Now studying child development at Vanderbilt University, Kendall hopes to transition her people skills and passion for helping others into a full-time career after graduation.

Here, Kendall shares with us what life is like as a student at Vanderbilt, how she first got into babysitting, and her perspective on the parent-babysitter relationship.

You go to college at Vanderbilt, what are you studying?

I’m studying child development and English and sociology, so I have a major and two minors. Honestly, most kids at Vanderbilt probably have some combination of that: multiple majors and minors. I started as a special education major and then realized I wanted to work more with people in general, not just kids, though I had always babysat and worked with kids. It’s been interesting to learn to what makes people tick and how people interact and work with others.

Right now, my part time job on campus is in the admissions office, so I’d love to work as an admissions counselor after college. That would be working with 18- year-olds instead of two-year-olds. There is a lot of travel and meeting people and reading applications, taking care of different tasks at a time in the same way I keep up with my UrbanSitter account.

What drew you to Vanderbilt, specifically?

I’m from Chicago—the suburbs originally—so I’m about an 8 hour drive away from home while I’m at Vanderbilt. There’s 5-10 kids per year that come specifically from my high school to Vandy, so I always figured it could be an option. I liked the balance of rigorous academic curriculum and a community of people that are supportive, but not so cut-throat or competitive.

How did you first get into babysitting?

My very first sitting job was down the street from my house and I was a mother’s helper, but then she started leaving me with the kids. Through high school I sat on weekend nights, but I was also very involved in high school—I danced and participated in a lot of activities—so I just started right on my block where my parents could watch me walk there and walk home.

Who first introduced you to UrbanSitter?

When I came home after my freshman year of college, I had set up a full-time nanny job but it fell through. My dad actually had heard of UrbanSitter and he was the one who encouraged me to go for it. That was summer of 2014—and I was a Brand Ambassador with the UrbanSitter team in Chicago, which was a great way to get acquainted with the platform. And now I have a great basis to explain to parents how [UrbanSitter] works.

Has UrbanSitter helped you achieve any specific monetary goals or ambitions?

All of my spending money for when I studied abroad came from UrbanSitter! There are things that I’ve been able to do—I go to a school where people have a lot of money—and experiences and trips can feel really inaccessible to people who don’t have that kind of money. I went to Amsterdam and Prague and all over Europe because of the money I saved from UrbanSitter.

What do you love most about babysitting?

I have loved babysitting, not only because I love working with kids, but because the parents that I work are for are generally the generation between myself and my parents. So getting to know those parents and seeing how they are adults, without being exactly like my parents or other college students, has helped me see what life is like 5-10 years beyond college. . I see a lot of value in making relationships with parents, too, because you can learn or be exposed to other experiences through them.

What would your babysitting style is like?

I would characterize my babysitting style as pretty warm, though I will enforce rules and boundaries because I know how a lack of boundary-setting will affect a child developmentally. I don’t like to skimp on rules for one night just because I’m the babysitter, not only because it makes it harder on the parents when they come home, but also because it makes it harder on me if I come back to watch the kids again. I try to view my relationship with families as being part of a team. I establish myself as someone who will lay down the law if I need to, but if the kids don’t make me lay down the law, then they know we can have fun.

What tips would you give to sitters just getting started on UrbanSitter?

I would say it’s important to wait for the families that you feel like you’ll vibe with. I’ve worked with families that weren’t a good fit for me and the difference between that and the families I’m really great with, is almost worth more than the money. I would say waiting for families that you feel value you and what you bring to them, and care about your time and experience, there are those families on UrbanSitter; and it’s worth making sure that you are clicking well with anyone you work for.

Hire Kendall today on UrbanSitter!

Sign up to be a babysitter today for free at www.urbansitter.com!

Parents: Discover your community’s most-trusted sitters and nannies.

Meet Mara: Babysitter and Future Genetic Counselor!

mara-hernandez

Mara has been working with kids and families since she was in middle school so it comes as no surprise that she’s now pursuing a career in genetic counseling, where she’ll be able to help people each and every day. Since joining UrbanSitter in 2012 Mara has sat for around 100 different families, and says that babysitting has provided her with income while still allowing her to keep a schedule flexible enough for school, volunteering, and applying to a Masters program.

Here, Mara shares with us a little bit more about her life, her adventures in babysitting, and what she plans on doing in the future.  

How did you get started as a babysitter?
I grew up in a suburb of San Francisco in a neighborhood that had four cul de sacs that were connected, so it was a pretty good place to find babysitting jobs because there were a lot of families. I don’t remember how I got into babysitting exactly, if I decided if I was old enough or if a neighbor approached me.

We had this little newsletter for our neighborhood and it showed which families were in which houses and listed the names of the kids who lived in the houses, too. The kids’ names had boxes next to them that said whether or not they were willing to do yard work or babysitting or things like that.

I made $4/hour to start, as a Mother’s Helper. I was pretty bad at it, because the mom was working at home, and so the kids would just go bother her. And then I’d come home with my $12 dollars in my hand, but you have to start somewhere!

How did your babysitting career advance after that?
I wanted to do more babysitting as I got a little bit older. I took a class about babysitting at the local community center and of course got CPR certified. In high school I went around my neighborhood with flyers and knocking on doors and got a regular babysitting job out of that, that I had throughout high school and my first year of college.

I also took a gap year and was an au pair in Switzerland for 10 months. I went to the  German-speaking part of Switzerland and couldn’t even count to ten in German when I got there, but I picked it up. I was so excited about it that I went with the very first family who chose me (I applied through an online service not an agency) and just said “Yes! I will be your au pair!”

How did you first get started on UrbanSitter?
I’ve been on UrbanSitter for four and a half years, and it was pretty small when I started. I remember that somebody contacted me for a phone interview, and I remember being in a parking lot walking to my car and I got this call from a woman with a really beautiful Irish accent. Both parents were from Europe and the dad was working as a postdoc at UC Berkeley, they didn’t have any family in the area and hadn’t had a date night in forever.

It was a good start because they were a really nice family and just so appreciative. Their little girl was adorable. They gave me a good review and then someone else booked me. So [my time on UrbanSitter] started out slow, but it picked up from there.

You’re studying genetic counseling now, can you tell us a little bit about that?
A genetic counselor talks to people who might be at risk for hereditary medical conditions. Like cancer for example, if a person has a strong family history of cancer they’ll talk to a genetic counselor and decide whether or not to do specific testing to see if they have that genetic predisposition. Genetic counselors also meet with people planning a pregnancy or who are currently pregnant to provide information and counseling about any health problems that run in the family as well as about prenatal testing options.

Has babysitting had any effect on your choice to pursue genetic counseling?
In genetic counseling you’re working with a lot of different people, people trying to plan a family or start a family. And in my babysitting adventures each family is different, with different personalities, and I’ve always found that pretty interesting. In the field of genetic counseling I’ll get to continue to meet different people and work with different people, and I think it’s good to have a foundation in that already.

There’s a particular family that I work for regularly that goes out a lot. They were so, so supportive about this particular application process [for my Master’s program]. They would give me advice and try to help out. It’s a pretty competitive program that I was applying for, so I was very stressed. The dad’s sister is actually a genetic counselor and so he set up a meeting for us, and she gave me really helpful advice and support.  The kid is so great, too, she’s always cheerful and runs to the door when I get there – now that I’ve started graduate school, I find babysitting is a good way to relieve stress!

Babysitting has been really helpful, because I had to do a lot of volunteering to be accepted into the Master’s program that I’m in now. I’ve been preparing for this program for three years. In July of last year, I left my job at Children’s Hospital to be able to take on more volunteering, and an internship, and to take more classes. So babysitting was all of my income, and it let me be flexible.

Saturday night to me is like babysitting night. I think I’ve worked the majority of Saturdays in the last year. And that has really allowed me to support myself in this last year of preparation for the program. UrbanSitter was so helpful because I know I wouldn’t have found as many jobs as I did without it.

Sign up to be a babysitter today at www.urbansitter.com!