What school did you go to?

I went to Edgar Road Elementary School in the Webster Groves School District. Then, I went to Steger Sixth Grade Center, Hixson Middle School and Webster Groves High School. 

How was your childhood home life?

[My childhood home life] was good. I’m one of five kids. At one point in time, my family took guardianship of my cousin, so there were six of us in the home. Until I was 13, we were one family; it was super fun. My siblings and I are all less than 16 months apart [so] it was always very busy. We always had friends over [too]; my mom used to call it a zoo because there would almost always be 10 people in the house. As soon as one person had a friend over, everyone else asked, and [soon] there were 12 kids [at the house]. It was fun to have people that close in age to confide in. 

What has changed, what hasn’t?

As a parent myself, especially with social media and technology, screens are something that I’m struggling with now that I didn’t have to struggle with as a kid. My parents divorced when I was 13, so I took on a bigger role helping around the house [and] helping my younger siblings with their homework and bath times. We spent a lot of time outside, didn’t wear shoes [and] drank from a hose. Home screens were not a battle. Now, I have a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old at home with screens, and it’s difficult to play that line between a good, educational tool or a way to remove my child from whatever situation [in which] they’re misbehaving.  It’s hard to use it as an educational tool versus a reward. Of course, there are things now that families are more aware of. There’s more information we know about health, raising children, mental development and mental illness. We’re more careful about those things, but I remember being more carefree as a child; now as a parent, all the worries in the world are on me. 

When did you know you wanted to be a teacher and teach this subject?

I had an amazing teacher, Mr. Wilmering, and he was the most animated person. He made everything so exciting to learn, and [from then on], I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. At first, I thought about teaching math, and then I decided I wanted to teach spelling. I had gone back and forth over childhood. When I got to high school, my freshman-year Spanish teacher, Mr. Herrera, had an incredible story about how he had to make his escape from the dictatorship in Cuba and illegally come to the United States to eventually get his citizenship and find a wife and a family. His story was so motivating and intriguing that I wanted to learn more about Hispanic culture. The drive for me was learning about food, celebrations and life in Hispanic culture. To experience the culture, I had to integrate myself , so I did a couple of study abroad [programs] in high school between junior and senior year, and that turned into experience with the language.

Tell me a childhood story that always makes you smile. 

I was probably about 10 or 11 and my little brother was a toddler. We had a wooden porch swing on our front porch and all five of us were all swinging on it [when] my brother decided to get off the swing. He was only in his diaper, and in the process of getting up, his diaper fell off. Everyone was jumping off of the porch swing, trying to get his diaper back on, and I broke it. [As] I was jumping off of the swing, I got pushed back in the whole hustle [and] went straight through the chair. I was stuck with my legs up, just swinging. That porch swing is still broken on my dad’s porch to this day. He leaves it on purpose, saying ‘That’s your trophy.’

What things make you nostalgic when you see/hear/smell/feel them?

My dad likes to listen to the Eagles and Billy Joel, so anytime I hear either of those bands, it makes me think of my dad. Also, we had some cabin property in the country; my great-great-grandfather built a log cabin in the ‘30s, and every spring break of my childhood, we would go down and camp there for the week. The sound of the little creek, the wildlife — wild boars, turkey,  deer — and the smell of the botanicals [make me nostalgic]. I really enjoyed being there, so much so that [the log cabin is] where my husband proposed to me.