Category Archives: NYMP5

Seeking Advice and Following It

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. Continue reading

La Vida Madrileña: An Identity Constructed

As Told by Carlos M. Beato (NYMP5)

“It was over five years ago when I first embarked on a study abroad journey that would change my life forever. While I matured in the most basic of aspects, I also had to learn how to deal with the issues of race, socio-economic status and culture.

In a country that claims to be so [civilly] advanced, the division of race and class in Spain was one that caught my attention. I found out in the very beginning that my not being white would not only affect where I could live but I was often granted access to certain neighborhoods only when I mentioned that I was an American student from the United States. Never in my life have I felt that I was not wanted and it was through this experience of searching for a “piso” in Spain that made these feelings a reality.  While it helped that I spoke Spanish well over the phone, it was not until I visited many of these potential living spaces that I experienced firsthand the Spaniard’s actual reactions to my darker skin color. Nevertheless, this experience prepared me for other similar situations [during my time in Spain] that would eventually warrant me to question my identity. Continue reading