d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6
d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6
d'mensions/the d'youville college Journal summer 2oo6
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Michelle Lambier ’03<br />
’03<br />
A professor’s suggestion changed Michelle<br />
Lambier’s professional life when he advised<br />
her to go into a career as an English teacher instead of<br />
continuing as a fashion design major at Seneca College.<br />
“It was because of Jim Streeter, a professor of English, who talked to me<br />
about teaching and <strong>the</strong> satisfaction it brings that I changed majors,” she<br />
said in an interview before she had to leave for her class at Seneca, her<br />
class that she was teaching, not attending as a student.<br />
Today, Michelle, who lives in Harriston, Ont., is part-time<br />
teaching introduction to English communication for freshman<br />
and a section of business communication at Seneca. “My goal is<br />
to be full time at Seneca.”<br />
Now that she has had a taste of teaching, first a semester at Norwell<br />
District Secondary School in Palmerston, where she did her student<br />
teaching, <strong>the</strong>n at Seneca, she finds she “loves it, especially when I<br />
know I am assisting with <strong>the</strong> student’s potential.”<br />
She arrived in <strong>the</strong> classroom with her English degree and<br />
teaching certification through <strong>the</strong> Seneca-D’Youville special<br />
program that offers students who complete two years in Seneca’s<br />
general arts and sciences program <strong>the</strong> opportunity to transfer<br />
<strong>the</strong>ir Seneca credits to D’Youville and earn <strong>the</strong>ir bachelor’s and<br />
master’s degrees in three years.<br />
“I weighed <strong>the</strong> pros and cons of D’Youville, knowing York<br />
University had 11,000 applications for education majors and<br />
only 700 who would be accepted, and decided to go to <strong>the</strong><br />
Buffalo campus because of <strong>the</strong> opportunity to earn both my<br />
undergraduate and graduate degrees in three years and get right<br />
into teaching,” she said. “At York it would have taken me more<br />
than four years to earn a teaching degree and certification. I also<br />
knew about D’Youville from my friends.”<br />
Michelle started at D’Youville as an English major in education when she<br />
was 21 and lived in a “little cottage” in Crystal Beach with some friends<br />
and commuted over <strong>the</strong> Peace Bridge to campus where she carried a full<br />
load.<br />
Michelle also remembers <strong>the</strong> highlights of studying at D’Youville. “The<br />
faculty is brilliant, especially in English; <strong>the</strong> small classes and not being<br />
in a classroom with 200 people; <strong>the</strong> students working hard to succeed that<br />
served as a motivation; and <strong>the</strong> quality education I received, stand out for<br />
me,” she said.<br />
“The small classes allowed discussion, <strong>the</strong> exploring of ideas, a closer<br />
look at <strong>the</strong> topic and you got more out of it. The time at D’Youville was<br />
really inspiring; <strong>the</strong> professors gave more than a textbook education and<br />
I really loved it. It opened up different possibilities for me.” She added,<br />
“I miss those days.”<br />
Michelle was also selected to teach freshmen English in her third semester.<br />
“Teaching <strong>the</strong> freshmen gave me valuable hands-on experience prior to<br />
entering <strong>the</strong> real world classroom.”<br />
She added, “I love teaching in higher education and I plan to work on my<br />
Ph.D. and stay in <strong>the</strong> field.”<br />
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