Le Grand Voyage

How did this French speaking Canadian end up coming to Christian Brothers?

Many of you may not know that our new French teacher at Christian Brothers High school, Mrs. Stefanie Howorun, is from Canada. For her to work at such a great school as this one, she had to go through endless paperwork.

Her husband received a research position at U.C. Davis  and she started to come to terms that she would not be able to teach in California. She did not give up though, she used Google to find the three criteria: Christian, a French program, and a Wrestling program.

“To my amazement Christian Brothers popped up on my search!” she says.

There was an opening for a French teaching position, so she then took the opportunity to change her life.

“I went to the school’s website and fell in love with everything it had to offer,” she stated.

It had everything she was looking for, including her passions for wrestling and French.  This what got her to come to Christian Brothers.

The paperwork for Ms. Howorun to work at CB hindered her from coming to the states.

The average time to process the visa application for Mrs. Howorun’s to work usually takes 90 days. On top of that a two week addition to get her social security paperwork to be approved.

“The process for the paper work took about 70 days” she said.

Her husband also had to prove that he was employed before she entered the United States on July 1st, 2013. When the school year started she had to have another teacher in the room with her.

It was an awkward situation for most students because being in a classroom with just one teacher is the normal for most high schools. Mrs. Howorun needed to have someone who was a citizen to teach her students.

The long and gruelling process of the paperwork made it worth while once she started teaching the students at Christian Brothers.

“CB students are one of a kind” she says, adding that she cares for each of her students because they give her so much more in return. She says that her students give her joy and happiness and make her want to come to class everyday to teach.

Although the process of getting to America and having a job here was long and difficult, Mrs. Howorun is so happy and thankful she is in a place with such wonderful people.