Spotlight on Ms. Drako

Chryssa Drako was born and grew up in Greece. At the end of 2012, she came to the United States. This is her second year teaching at QSI. Last year she taught in the high school and this year she is teaching Humanities in the middle school. She’s also the advisor for the middle school Knitting Club and co-advisor for the Yearbook Club.

Q: When you came to the US, how was it adjusting to a new environment in a whole different country?

A: It wasn’t that hard for me because I was, back then, 25 and I think when you are 25, you have dreams and if you are like me, you are willing to do anything to achieve them.

Q:  Is New York very different from Greece?

A: In Greece, the people’s mentality is very relaxed and chill, you might have heard that about other European and Mediterranean countries, like the Spanish and Italians are very chill.

Q: How was the process of moving here?

A: I had to go to the American Embassy in Athens to get a visa. I got a six month visa when I entered and they gave me an extension of another three months. I came as a tourist and then when I was here for about a year, I took an extension and then I got married so I got my papers.

Q: How long have you been in America?

A: Ten years.

Q: When did you decide that you wanted to be a teacher?

A: I always wanted to be a teacher, and I got my masters in history. I had always admired my history teacher and my language because in Greece we have a language history in ancient Greek. One teacher does everything so I wanted to be that kind of teacher, to teach the ancient Greek language, history, and Latin. So that’s where I focused my studies and I got my history degree.

Q: Did you have any other career paths that you were interested in and wanted to take instead of teaching?

A: When I finished college, I was looking for a job and I got hired at an insurance company to work as an insurance person to sell insurance, but I hated it. I’m not a salesperson and when I came here I worked at a bagel factory, as a secretary. I worked a couple of jobs but I knew that I wanted to be a teacher.

Q: How long have you been teaching for?

A: I was tutoring back in Greece. Since I came here I have been teaching Greek since 2014.  And for the DOE, I started working as a substitute in 2020.

Q: What hobbies do you like to do in your free time?

A: My hobbies are knitting and I like making jewelry. I love making stuff with my hands because I am very artistic.