The 8 a.m. bell rings and all of the exhausted students walk to their first period class. Even though most students are sad that it’s another Monday, one teacher is happy to teach another day and in another language. As she stands in front of the class, Spanish teacher Jennifer Ochoa begins her first year teaching at Stephenville High School.

Before Ochoa came to Stephenville, her life in teaching spanned schools across Texas.

“I have taught at Santo for two years and Huckabay for one year teaching Spanish 1, 2, and 3,” Ochoa said.

Even though Ochoa received her Bachelor’s degree in the Spanish language came from a different place.

“My husband speaks Spanish and I wanted to learn the language,” Ochoa said. “I took an adult Spanish class from Mrs. Saunders and decided I wanted to teach Spanish like her. I decided to go back to school and get my degree in Spanish. I studied abroad twice in college, five weeks in Spain and four weeks in Costa Rica.”

Ochoa isn’t from Stephenville; she moved here from Granbury with a photography hobby.

“I moved to Stephenville when I was 18 years old,” Ochoa said. “I’ve been here since 2004 and have been married for 8 years. Life is different, but it’s good here.”

Once Ochoa came to Stephenville, things were different compared to the other schools that she previously taught at.

“This campus is a lot bigger than other schools I have taught at and I have more students,” Ochoa said. “I like how friendly the faculty is and how much the students enjoy the pep-rallies.”