Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Gabriela “Gaby” Ramirez
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project
Interview # T20-A-L-2022-09
Gabriela Ramirez, a quoting analyst for Global Technologies Telecom, was interviewed on the date listed below as part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project.
Interview dates & location:
Date: February 6, 2022
Location: Ramirez’s Home, Chicago, Illinois
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Amanda Riggenbach, project manager Tumultuous 2020
Total Time: 2:32 / 2.53 hrs.
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Archives on April 15, 2022.
The interview is archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2021 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Abstract
Gabriela “Gaby” Ramirez, Tumultuous 2020, T20-A-L-2022-09
Biographical Information/Overview of Interview: Gabriela “Gaby” Ramirez was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1984. Her family immigrated from Mexico in the late 1970s and Ramirez was the first of her siblings to be born in the United States. She often served as a translator for her parents as they navigated their new life in the United States. When Ramirez graduated high school in 2002, she began attending the University of Illinois Chicago in hopes of becoming a nurse or pharmacist. After her second semester, she was unable to continue because of the combined stress of the lack of financial aid and the financial burden she felt she was putting on her father. She enrolled in a medical assistant program and completed it within one year. She had a child during this time and describes the support system her parents offered. She later moved to Morris, Illinois, with her child’s father before they moved to Des Moines, Iowa, where his family was from. They had a second child before Ramirez took the children and moved back to Chicago. She found a job with Global Technologies Telecom as a secretary and eventually worked her way up to a pricing manager and quoting analyst. Her and her partner split and later, Ramirez met her husband, Eduardo Rivera. Together, they are a blended family with six children.
At the start of 2020, Ramirez was working partially remote and reeling from her husband’s health issues in late 2019. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, her work moved fully remote and she was able to be home for her three children, who were fifteen, twelve, and four years old. Ramirez’s ten-year-old nephew also came to live with them because his home did not have internet access. Ramirez discussed the ways she strove to create an environment that was conducive to her work and her children’s remote schooling. Ramirez also describes the summer of 2020 and the way she and her children enjoyed each other’s company in a way they never previously had. For example, Ramirez details their picnics at nature preserves in the area as well as bonfires in their backyard. Over the course of the year, Ramirez describes her changing feelings towards the pandemic and the mandates from the Governor’s office. The autumn and winter of 2020 were difficult for the family as they experienced the holidays over Zoom and experienced the loss of different family members. Ramirez details the start of 2021, and her life as remote school continues for her children and as vaccines become available. At the time of the interview, Ramirez was working remotely, on a permanent basis, but her children were attending school in-person.
Subject Headings/Key Words: Chicago, Illinois; remote work; online learning; Mexican American; COVID-19 pandemic; vaccine; COVID-19 pandemic impact on learning;
Notes to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir, nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
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