Julia Gaona has been an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher in Irvington, New Jersey for the past sixteen years.  A first-generation immigrant, born and raised in Moscow, Russia, she came here as a student and earned her second Master’s Degree in TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) from Arizona State University on a full-tuition scholarship.  In addition, she teaches writing classes to ESL students at Kean university as an adjunct faculty member, and is studying in a post-Masters Graduate program at Kean. She and her husband are raising ten-year-old twins, and she is also the mother of a son who resides in Philadelphia with his fiancee. During the Covid crisis, she has been balancing these demanding roles, and like so many other teachers, Julia is one of our unsung heroes.