Rachel Telles:  

Life After graduation, I left for Oakland, CA to attend Holy Names Colledge. In '78 I earned by BA in Liberal Arts and a Teaching Degree. I returned to Lincoln Heights for 1 year to stay with my dad because my mom died the previous year. We made arrangements for him to move back to El Paso, TX where he spent his young adulthood and had family. In 1980 I entered the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose (CA) as a postulant and remained with them for approx. 12 years. While I was a Dominican Sister I earned and completed a degree in Special ED (dyslexia concentration)and I also began my Masters in Business Administration. I taught in Dominican schools both in NCAL & SCAL for the 10 years I was with them. During that time my dad was getting older and sicker. One highlight as a Dominican sister was taking various trips to the Holy Land as a Dominican and as a teacher. Another was hearing John Paul preach and also hearing a "sermon" from Mother Theresa. As both an elementary teacher, I was able to travel quite a bit and used those opportunities to incorporate history lessons and world events into my style of teaching. I have been fortunate to see almost all of the USA as well as parts of Europe and Mexico. After I left the sisterhood I remained in teacher for a number of years but left that field and finished my Masters in Business Administration. It was difficult getting my feet wet in the business world but I eventually found my way into the Call Center industry and loved it. It was very similar to teaching - different every day, allowed for creativity and training so I stayed in that industry as manager for a numbe...Expand for more