Hola!
I’m Esther A. Gamache, I was named after my grandmother on my father’s side. I
grew up speaking Spanish only, it was my first language and my second language
was English. I also speak fluent American Sign Language and semi-fluent French.
I was born in Watsonville, CA, where I
also grew up and lived there for 18 years of my life. I currently reside in
Rocklin, CA.
I’m
a Mexican American female, born in the United States. My parents were born in Mexico;
our culture is based on close net family, strong catholic religion, a love of
food and celebration.
I believe that
preschool children learn best when teachers are supportive of children’s
interest, curiosity and abilities that will empower them throughout their
lives. They are respected by providing meaningful activities, giving attention
to the whole child and fostering a positive relationship with the parents. They
are looked at as individuals when they are free to explore through playful
activities and given choices of activities that will encourage them have a
sense of belonging and self.
I’m a well-rounded person, filled with lots of energy and a
fun person to be around. I define myself as a nurturing and caring person and
always willing to help others, even if my situation is worse than theirs. I
strongly believe that I need to honest to others and especially myself.
I’m the oldest of five children, my parents were hard
workers, my father worked in the fields and my mother worked at the
cannery. I remember that my father used
to work 13 to 14 hour days and my mother would work nights to care for us
during the day. Then it became difficult for them and she would hire nannies to
come and care for us as she had to work days. When I turned 13, and everyone
was going to school, my responsibility was to walk and get my younger siblings and
walk home and care for them at our home.
As I got older, it was my responsibility to clean, wash, cook and care
for my younger siblings. As I look back,
I grew up very quickly and became really responsible at a young age. I got my first job when I was Junior in High
School, and worked after that to help out my parents.
My grandmother past away when my mom was only
three years old, and my grandfather was a funny man, but I don’t remember much
more of him other than that. As for my
father’s side, both lived in Mexico and then they passed away before I had an
opportunity to meet them. My parents
don’t speak much about their younger days, nor have they instilled much of our
Mexican heritage into us. My parents
wanted us to have some traditions, but wanted us to acclimate to the American
traditions. Most traditions they have
instilled in us are traditions that Mexican Catholics practices.
I was the first
generation to attend the University and graduate. I worked at Napa State Hospital for about two
years as a Rehabilitation Therapist and really enjoyed it. But the commute became much for me as I was
still living in Sacramento. I then,
decided to get a teaching job and I taught preschool for the deaf and hard of
hearing children. I then got tired of the commute to Woodland and obtain
another job working for a non-profit organization in which I worked helping
homeless families and children with mental health issues. After eight years as
the manager of a department of social workers, I decided to quit and stay home
and care for my children as I was needed at home.
Three
years ago, I got married to my best friend, who is now my husband. We are an inter-racial couple, because he’s
Caucasian and I’m Mexican. Our first
year of being married, we got pregnant and then had a miscarriage. It was the
most difficult time in my life and to top it off, it was on Thanksgiving Day. My husband and I became much closer after
that incident and our faith became stronger.
We had decided that we would make the best and travel and have fun just
the two of us and if we were blessed with another baby then we would welcome
it. Well, we got pregnant again, and with the added surprise that we were
having twins! Identical twin boys!! My pregnancy was very difficult, at 20
weeks, I had to be on bed rest and my babies were two months premature. The
first year was a challenge as they spent the first two months in the hospital
after being born at a combined weight of 6 pound. One of my sons has already had two surgeries,
which were trying. But he’s getting
better. They had a lot of needs, which
is why I had to stop working to care for them.
The boys turned two, are doing great and they are so much fun.
I recently got hired as a Spanish
speaking teacher for after school program.
I’m in the training process and I also opened my home to care for
children and I’m currently caring for one child. My experience caring for the
child has been fantastic as long as I keep the schedule and all three kids
busy.
I believe this class will help
me learn about other cultures and also prepare me as a professional when I
begin to work in an actual preschool setting. This class will give me a new
perspective and will be a good eye opener with some of my own personal feeling
towards other cultures. I believe this
class will be useful on both a personal level and professional level.
I really enjoy cooking and
especially baking, I love to play with recipes and sharing them with my family.
I’ve been really hooked on my IPOD and playing games. I enjoy listening to
music and watching cooking shows. Cooking is a way for me to relax and be
creative. I find cooking to be an art form and it gives me time to be by myself
and also express myself too. So, I guess
this is me in a nutshell.
I really excited to get know everyone in the class!
Esther
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