In this paper, high school teacher Emily shares her own experience of collaboration. Emily found herself co-teaching with no prior training or support. This top-down implementation of co-teaching caused a lack of understanding of the process and the purpose of co-teaching. Emily highlighted that her co-teaching with three different teachers in her first semester taught her that her and the students’ engagement and success relied on her collaboration with the co-teacher. For example, one of the co-teachers dealt solely with management issues, instead of sharing the whole responsibility. Emily shared what made co-teaching a beneficial experience in the next semester. She emphasized the significance of negotiating principles at the start of the semester, prior to the beginning of co-teaching. Additionally, she underscored the importance of defining co-teaching, emphasizing it as a partnership with equal authority. In the paper, she provides resources on initiating these conversations and finding support to navigate associated challenges.