Valerie Zamaripa looks towards graduation and a possible future
as a lawyer
Gilroy – Valerie Zamaripa isn’t your typical teen. She’s been stressed out lately but the tension has nothing to do with impending college decisions or boy issues.
The 18-year-old has been dealing with a situation unique to her world: a sick baby, high school and no babysitter.
Zamaripa’s 4-month-old daughter had a bad cough and cold, so she couldn’t drop her off at Mt. Madonna Child Care center while she attends class across the lot at Mt. Madonna High School.
Instead, Zamaripa had to stay home from school and spend the day shuttling Alynna Hernandez to the doctor.
As a senior, mere months away from graduation, Zamaripa knows missing class only placed her in an even more precarious position, so when Mt. Madonna Principal Sergio Montenegro finally tracked her down Monday and told her he’d received the results from November’s California High School Exit Exam, she expected bad news.
“I thought he was gonna tell me ‘you didn’t pass the math part,'” she said.
Instead, Zamaripa was told the opposite, that she’d passed both the English and math sections, the only one of the five Mt. Madonna students the Dispatch is featuring who passed the November CAHSEE.
And as long as she remains on the right track and completes the rest of her credits, she’ll graduate this spring. Zamaripa doesn’t take it lightly that she managed to pass the high stakes test, even in the face of so much adversity.
She’s determined to graduate and knows that to do so she has to be in her seat everyday.
“I’m happy,” Zamaripa said. “I feel real proud of myself. My parents were happy. The baby was happy too. I’m gonna make it.”
That’s quite a change from her previous attitude. Back in December when asked if she’d passed the test, the teen mom assumed she’d have to take it again.
“For sure I passed the English. I don’t do too well on math but I tried my best,” she said during a previous interview.
Victory didn’t come easily to Zamaripa. The Gilroy native, who transferred to Mt. Madonna High School, Gilroy’s continuation school, as a junior, was distraught when she discovered she was pregnant.
Zamaripa had been dating her longtime childhood friend for awhile when she found out. She weighed the good and the bad of the situation, but since abortion was out of the picture, she went through with the pregnancy.
In September, a day when she happened to oversleep and miss school, Zamaripa was at home, talking on the phone and her water broke. She was rushed to the hospital where Alynna Hernandez was born, a month early.
These days Zamaripa wakes at 6:30am, drops Alynna off at Mt. Madonna Child Care center and picks her up in the afternoon. She plays with the baby a bit after school before heading to work at the Gap outlet.
Although, finishing high school, working and trying to pass the CAHSEE, all while dealing with the pressures of raising a baby, may appear overwhelming, Zamaripa says it’s quite the opposite.
“I think before I had her I wasn’t doing as good as I’m doing now,” she said. “I think she’s a positive effect on me. Before it was just all about me and I could do whatever I wanted.”
Valerie Zamaripa
– Born: Gilroy
– Age: 18
– Past scores: never taken
– Minimum to pass: 350
– November scores
– Math: 362
– ELA: 371
– Obstacles to hurdle: Gave birth to baby girl Alynna Hernandez in September. In the morning Zamaripa drops Alynna off at Mt. Madonna’s daycare, picks her up after school. She plays with her baby for a bit before heading to work at the Gap outlet.
– Home life: She and her boyfriend live with her parents. He’s very supportive and watches the baby while Zamaripa is working or studying. “If I didn’t have him I don’t know where I’d be.” Her parents also help out with Alynna.
– Goal: To become a juvenile lawyer
Editor’s Note
– This is the fourth in a series featuring five Mt. Madonna High School students struggling to pass the CAHSEE.
– To read about the CAHSEE results for Mt. Madonna and Gilroy High students, see News, “112 Seniors Still Need to Pass CAHSEE.”
