She wakes up as early as 5 AM to get ready for work. Her eyes are tired and her stomach’s empty. Though sleepy, she must wake up because she needed to work again. She hates early shower but she must endure the cold water to keep her awake. Afraid of being late, she quickly puts on her school uniform and rushes to her office station. She misses her family, whom she hasn’t hugged for five long months now. It sounds so heroic. But truthfully, it’s a bittersweet story of a teacher’s sacrifice.

Teacher Scorpio, 36, is just one among the 1, 300  plus QQEnglish teachers’ who sacrifice being with family amidst the pandemic all because of her chosen vocation. As a mother of two children, life has been different and difficult because of the pandemic, however, life must go on. The crisis has been a twist of fate and a battle she needed to face. Her story is a tale of a teacher’s sacrifice for her students who she hasn’t met yet and would possibly never meet.

According to her, to not see her 8-month-old son take his first walk and not hearing him say his first word in person was sad. She should have been there that time her son uttered the word ‘Mama’, but sadly she wasn’t around. “I am here for my family’s future, and for my students who needed my cheer and my presence during the pandemic. This is my passion and my teacher’s sacrifice to my students who I truly cherish,” she confessed.

Sometimes, Scorpio would just cry and wish how amazing things were before the pandemic. She already missed the feeling of being hugged by her loved ones before she leaves work and when she arrives home from work. But everything’s changed, and the pandemic has taken what she once called a “good life.”