As told by Lance Charles Sun (NYMP9)
Life takes us on all sorts of unexpected paths and nobody could attest for this better than Sienna Chambers. Sienna, a member of the Middlebury College class of 2007 and New York Middlebury Posse 5, has recently just started her first year as a New York City Teaching Fellow.
After nearly four years of working in commercial real estate, Sienna is now an English teacher at Mott Hall V, a public high school in the Bronx. “My last day of work was actually on April 1st and my co-workers made a big joke about it.” Not one to waste any time, Sienna dove right in and partook in the spring immersion program before regular corps training began in the summer. She spent 10 weeks observing in a special education English classroom before taking on the same position in the Fall when the teacher she observed left the school.
Like many other New York City Teaching Fellows, Sienna is currently in graduate school in addition to being full-time teacher. She is currently enrolled at Hunter College and pursuing a Master of Science in Education (M.S. Ed.) with a strong focus on special education and students with disabilities. “I am a proponent of public education… and I want to teach the population that needed the most attention. The current state of education in New York City is that there is a [significant] gap in academic achievements. New York City students aren’t prepared and many of them are in a disadvantage depending on which neighborhood they live in.”
When we asked how her Middlebury College career and being a Posse Scholar influenced the work that she is doing now, she expressed how blessed she is to have received the [quality of] education that she did. “I received a great and challenge education [from Middlebury College]. I learned about academic adversity and working hard for a grade. It builds perseverance and character.”
During her time at Middlebury College, Sienna was a sociology & anthropology major and spent the Spring semester of her junior year abroad in Paris, France. She was the secretary for the African-American Alliance (AAA), the business manager for the Middlebury Campus and played on the Women Middlebury College Rugby Club (WMCRC).
“If it’s feasible, study abroad! Gain experience from internships! Try to experiment [outside your usual areas]; don’t always follow the money. Find out what you like. Or don’t like. [Most of all,] Seek out advice and really take the advice into account.”