Arati W. Care Companion in San Francisco, CA 94110

I’ve always been a caregiver and have found myself drawn to caregiving work over and over again in life. In high school, I worked as a dance teacher and in college I worked as a peer mentor - while both were instructive positions, they required the relationship building, service, attentiveness, and flexibility of more traditional caregiver positions. I attained a teaching certificate during college and went on to work as an English teacher for three years. Anyone in education will attest to the fact that classroom teaching is at least 50% care giving, creating a strong classroom culture/community, and looking at emotional wellbeing. I’m taking a break from teaching and have been reconsidering/remembering my experience caregiving, especially in the realm of working with children with special needs. In college, I consistently worked as a caregiver to two different high school students with special needs. My basic responsibilities included ambulatory help, bathing, feeding, administering medicines, playing physical/mental games, running errands, and taking the child on small, fun trips outside. I so enjoyed the bond I built with these students and the ability to assist them in whatever ways made the most sense. I had the chance to provide help while also building strong relationships and honing my communication, flexibility, and household administrative skills. In addition, I am CPR certified.