d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6

Michelle Lambier ’03
’03
A professor’s suggestion changed Michelle
Lambier’s professional life when he advised
her to go into a career as an English teacher instead of
continuing as a fashion design major at Seneca College.
“It was because of Jim Streeter, a professor of English, who talked to me
about teaching and the satisfaction it brings that I changed majors,” she
said in an interview before she had to leave for her class at Seneca, her
class that she was teaching, not attending as a student.
Today, Michelle, who lives in Harriston, Ont., is part-time
teaching introduction to English communication for freshman
and a section of business communication at Seneca. “My goal is
to be full time at Seneca.”
Now that she has had a taste of teaching, first a semester at Norwell
District Secondary School in Palmerston, where she did her student
teaching, then at Seneca, she finds she “loves it, especially when I
know I am assisting with the student’s potential.”
She arrived in the classroom with her English degree and
teaching certification through the Seneca-D’Youville special
program that offers students who complete two years in Seneca’s
general arts and sciences program the opportunity to transfer
their Seneca credits to D’Youville and earn their bachelor’s and
master’s degrees in three years.
“I weighed the pros and cons of D’Youville, knowing York
University had 11,000 applications for education majors and
only 700 who would be accepted, and decided to go to the
Buffalo campus because of the opportunity to earn both my
undergraduate and graduate degrees in three years and get right
into teaching,” she said. “At York it would have taken me more
than four years to earn a teaching degree and certification. I also
knew about D’Youville from my friends.”
Michelle started at D’Youville as an English major in education when she
was 21 and lived in a “little cottage” in Crystal Beach with some friends
and commuted over the Peace Bridge to campus where she carried a full
load.
Michelle also remembers the highlights of studying at D’Youville. “The
faculty is brilliant, especially in English; the small classes and not being
in a classroom with 200 people; the students working hard to succeed that
served as a motivation; and the quality education I received, stand out for
me,” she said.
“The small classes allowed discussion, the exploring of ideas, a closer
look at the topic and you got more out of it. The time at D’Youville was
really inspiring; the professors gave more than a textbook education and
I really loved it. It opened up different possibilities for me.” She added,
“I miss those days.”
Michelle was also selected to teach freshmen English in her third semester.
“Teaching the freshmen gave me valuable hands-on experience prior to
entering the real world classroom.”
She added, “I love teaching in higher education and I plan to work on my
Ph.D. and stay in the field.”
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