a couple walking on the beach on their wedding day
Jim and Kimberly Gallina.
  • Kimberly Gallina met her husband, Jim, at a school in Queens where she was a student teacher.
  • They prioritized maintaining professional boundaries at work while nurturing their relationship.
  • Once their family grew to five, Jim switched jobs and they stopped working together.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Kimberly Gallina, a 35-year-old high school teacher in Peekskill, New York. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

I was student teaching sixth-grade English in Jamaica, Queens when I met Jim. He was a first-year teacher, too.