[HOB] Stephanie Ragno

Teaching during COVID-19

“I moved to China Pre-COVID-19 to live and teach there. I was there for about six months before COVID-19 happened. I got to kind of explore a little bit more and I did get a little bit of traveling on the breaks from school, but then COVID-19 hit and then everything locked down very quickly. Like, you couldn’t move out of the city, and it was a lot more strict. I was there for about a year and a half, and there was very limited movement. Even just within the city there were a lot of hoops to jump through. I signed a contract for one year initially, and then I was originally going to come back after a year because of COVID-19 and my family was worried. But that summer, I was trying to get a flight, and the flights were canceled. I had a flight booked and was ready to come home, but I couldn’t. Luckily my school offered me another contract. So I had job stability over there. And it worked out because I wanted to stay longer. I was really just coming back because my family was worried. With me being on the other side of the world in the midst of a pandemic. It was making them very nervous. They wanted me home, and I was trying to kind of appease them, but I had a reason to stay in China as well. Like I was really enjoying the teaching I was doing, being able to kind of immerse myself in another culture and, I met my husband over there too. So it was worth it.”

Meeting her husband in China

“I moved to China Pre-COVID-19 to live and teach there. I was there for about six months before COVID-19 happened. I got to kind of explore a little bit more and I did get a little bit of traveling on the breaks from school, but then COVID-19 hit and then everything locked down very quickly. Like, you couldn’t move out of the city, and it was a lot more strict. I was there for about a year and a half, and there was very limited movement. Even just within the city there were a lot of hoops to jump through. I signed a contract for one year initially, and then I was originally going to come back after a year because of COVID-19 and my family was worried. But that summer, I was trying to get a flight, and the flights were canceled. I had a flight booked and was ready to come home, but I couldn’t. Luckily my school offered me another contract. So I had job stability over there. And it worked out because I wanted to stay longer. I was really just coming back because my family was worried. With me being on the other side of the world in the midst of a pandemic. It was making them very nervous. They wanted me home, and I was trying to kind of appease them, but I had a reason to stay in China as well. Like I was really enjoying the teaching I was doing, being able to kind of immerse myself in another culture and, I met my husband over there too. So it was worth it.”