If not for a pair of fateful coincidences, Mariangela Pezzella-Bonasera might be working in the corporate world rather than pursuing a flourishing career teaching Italian 1, 2, 3 and AP at Wheeling High School. During her undergraduate years at Dominican University, she was studying international business and Italian when she took part in a marketing internship at the Sorrento Lingue (a language institute) in Italy. 

She finished her project ahead of schedule and got an assignment she wasn’t expecting — to teach English to Italian teens. “I actually fell in love with it and had a great time,” she says. “I love that age group.” She returned from Italy and began studying for a master’s degree in education at Dominican, thinking she’d become an English or business teacher. That’s when the second coincidence occurred.