Writer, Teacher, Survivor: From Haiti to the U.S. with Julienne Gousse

Some days, Julienne Gousse ate one meal. Some days, she ate none.

Growing up in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, food wasn’t guaranteed. Neither was education. After her grandfather and mother died, Gousse wasn’t able to go to school for three years, from age 10 to 13. When she returned to the classroom, she had to catch up on foundational skills she hadn’t been practicing, especially in math. (Gousse says she’s “always” catching up on math, even to this day.)

It’s not the background most people picture when they think of a confident, multilingual middle school teacher. But for Gousse — who’s preparing for her fourth year leading French classes in Georgia — that early hardship is part of what shapes how she shows up for her students.

‘Students Learn If They Can’

Ask Gousse what she loves most about being a teacher, and she doesn’t hesitate.

“I love the fact that teaching is a power exchange,” she said. “The students have power to give me, because they want to learn, and they have the power to accept or reject my teaching, so it’s not something I can compel them to do.”

It’s a philosophy she borrowed from a training session she attended years ago, led by an educator whose thesis stuck: “Students learn if they can.”

Gousse has built her entire classroom approach around that belief because it’s rooted in something even bigger for her.

“It’s unconditional love,” she said. “If you love your students, they will see that, and they will respond to you.”

It’s also what keeps her smiling in the “chaotic environment” of her school. Colleagues often ask her how she manages to maintain such a cheery outlook. Her answer?

“I’m from Port-au-Prince. It’s a chaotic place, so you have to find yourself in it, and you know what you bring,” she said. “What I bring is happiness and joy that I feel on the inside.”

A Teacher Who Fed Her, In More Ways Than One

Gousse can trace her decision to become a teacher back to one woman: Viola Skenderis, her high school ESL teacher.

Skenderis taught her English as well as social studies, science, and history, which were folded into the school’s well-funded ESL program. But Skenderis cared for Gousse beyond the books.

“She used to bring food for me to eat because she knew that the food situation at home was not stable because my father was a single parent,” Gousse shared.

It was an act of kindness that resonated with Gousse, even as a 14-year-old.

“I said to myself, ‘I will be a teacher like Mrs. Skenderis.'”

Gousse moved to the U.S. and completed her schooling, earning a bachelor’s degree in English and becoming a teacher in 1994 before stepping away after her son was born. A short time later, they moved to France. When she discovered her son was autistic and non-verbal, Gousse made the decision to move back to the U.S. where more support services were available.

Her time in France, however, gave Gousse a foundation to teach the country’s language. It also shaped how she runs her classroom, as Gousse found the highly structured, tight-scheduled French lifestyle has much in common with successful classroom management.

Finding Her Voice, With Some Encouragement

Skenderis was not the only teacher who inspired Gousse. Decades later, Moreland University faculty member Dr. Adam Morgan validated she was in the right profession.

“He didn’t say, ‘Oh, stay a teacher,’ but by the way he taught and the way he imparted the knowledge, that confirmed for me that I did the right thing in getting a master’s in education,” Gousse said.

By that point, she had already earned her U.S. teaching license through Moreland’s TEACH-NOW Teacher Preparation Certificate Program and solidified her reputation as a teacher. Adding on an M.Ed. with a specialization in teaching multilingual learners was Gousse’s way of deepening her knowledge and pairing her firsthand experience with a formal credential.

The program did more than increase her earning potential and open the door to new career opportunities. It also reignited a passion Gousse hadn’t explored since her days as an undergraduate when the works of Virginia Woolf and James Baldwin helped shape her worldview and had her dreaming of being a writer.

“In class, I shared a lot about my experience being a multilingual learner when I was young and even in college and even in graduate school. It was always a big challenge,” she shared. “And Dr. Morgan said, ‘You should write something about that. Maybe you can do a TED Talk,’ and then that sparked it.”

Since then, Gousse has completed one manuscript that is currently with a publisher and has the beginning of a second. She also began performing at open mic readings — and it all started with a suggestion from one Moreland faculty member.

“Teachers don’t know what powers they have,” she said. “It was definitely a special gift.”

Balancing Graduate School with Life

Gousse’s path through Moreland’s programs wasn’t linear. Partway through, she was diagnosed with cancer and needed a leave of absence to focus on treatment.

Once she was ready to return, Gousse was able to pick up where she left off. She built a routine around her workload and treated coursework like a part-time job, sitting down at her computer most evenings to work through readings and assignments step by step.

“The most important thing I could say about Moreland University is that it is flexible, and the faculty and staff are very understanding,” she said. “They accept that we are working professionals, and we have lives.”

Moreland University Supports Teachers at Every Stage of Their Career

A teaching career can start, pause, and restart on your own terms. The right program will meet you where you are.

If you’re ready to take the next step in your education career, Moreland University’s 9-month TEACH-NOW Teacher Preparation Certificate Program and 12-month master’s degree programs are fully accredited and 100% online, with rolling admissions and monthly start dates.

Apply for free today (it only takes about 15 minutes), and you’ll hear back within 2 business days.