Rochelle M. Smith is a lecturer of English Language and Spanish at HLSCC.

Seen here singing at an HLSCC event. Rochelle is a part of Trinity, which also provides background vocals for Quito and the Edge.

Our young professional and good teacher is Rochelle M. Smith, who is a Lecturer of English and Spanish at the H. Lavity Stout Community College (HLSCC).

It did, however, take some time for this Virgin Islander to realise that teaching was indeed her love and calling and she says proudly that she doesn’t see herself doing anything far from being in the classroom where her aim is always to be creative and inspirational in her teaching methods so that learning could be stimulated effectively.

After graduating from the then BVI High School, Rochelle spent a year at the same institution as a teacher trainee of English and Spanish. She would then leave these islands to pursue Bachelor Degrees in English and Spanish at Howard University in Washington DC and then pursued her Master’s Degree in English Education at Emory University in Georgia, a state where she was also certified to teach.

Instead of staying in Georgia to teach, Rochelle returned to her beloved homeland to impart her knowledge in the arts of language and began as an adjunct lecturer at the H. L. Lavity Stoutt Community College while teaching full time at the now Elmore Stoutt High School.

In 2007, Rochelle decided to take a break from teaching to do some administrative work at the College but her calling was always calling, and in 2010 our Young Professional could not resist the yearning to be back in the classroom and so she returned as a fulltime lecturer at HLSCC.

“I was glad for the break because I learned a lot and was able to acquire different skills while doing administrative work. I was actually the administrative secretary to two presidents of the College so I worked with two brilliant gentlemen and got the chance to learn a great deal. But I started to miss the classroom and I am glad to be back there. I love being back in the classroom. I especially like creating my lessons and trying to be creative in my instruction. I can’t entertain my students every day but I try my best to meet them where they are and make the lessons a little interesting,” the Cane Garden Bay resident said.

So how did Rochelle enter a profession that is often regarded as the labour of love and which, unfortunately, is not necessarily a big attraction? Rochelle initially wanted to be a doctor (Paediatrician) and actually started taking classes such as Chemistry and Physics that would lead to that sort of career but said “they were not my strong suit. However, I was doing well in my English Language, Literature and Spanish courses and so some teachers guided me and mentored me and said maybe this (teaching) is what you want to think about and teaching has been a great, great choice.”

But what has accounted for Rochelle being such a student of the English Language? “I have always been a voracious reader. My mother exposed me to books at a very early age and a lot of my presents were books so I read a lot and I grew to love languages. Even when my mother was studying Spanish while she was attending college, I started to like it and it just grew from there. Those classes have always been easy and fun for me.”

Our Young Professional said she developed a love for Spanish from her mother. “When my mother was studying Spanish in college she would come home (on weekends) learning her vocabulary and I was able to pick up a few words as a child and when I went into high school I really enjoyed it. I was able to catch on quickly and that was due to some great teachers I had there as well.”

Now Rochelle aims to be like those same teachers that guided and inspired her as a student, but teaching two different languages is not very easy especially with English as she has to be constantly motivating the students to see the importance of the language and the need to read more.

“I try to show them the value of having a good command of the English Language and how it could be connected to their career fields. I tell them all the time that sometimes the only picture someone has of you is based on a piece of paper that you submit to them and that person forms all sorts of judgments about you and your abilities based on that alone, so you have to be able to put your best foot forward. We don’t read enough and at the beginning of each semester I ask the students how many of them read often, or even like to read and the response is what I expect; very few students actually spend time reading and enjoy reading.”

The challenge with teaching Spanish, Rochelle says, is the unwillingness of students to try and “I tell the students that if they listen to the Spanish-speaking persons that live among us sometimes they come here only able to speak a few words in English but in a very short time they improve and I say one of the reasons they learn so quickly is because they have gotten over the fear of sounding stupid and that is something we have to get over”.

Despite those challenges, Rochelle is still enjoying her teaching and her only desire is to see her students excel in the classroom and ultimately in their careers. “I enjoy seeing students that I have taught accomplishing great things, coming back to our community and making positive contributions. That is so satisfying. The thing that has always given me a lift is seeing the students finally grasp something after they may have had difficulty with it. I get a lot of self-gratification for that. I can’t say there was anything that I was doing in the office that was giving me similar gratification.”

Our Young Professional credits a strong Christian mother and a network of supportive friends and family which she says have been pivotal to her achievements, and over the years she has been able to develop a discipline towards studies and work.

Asked what she would like to accomplish outside of the classroom, Rochelle said she hopes to embark on a project to develop a community library in the area where she resides.

In her off time, Rochelle enjoys singing with the trio Trinity which also provides background vocals for Quito and the Edge. She also enjoys singing in church, where her singing all started.

Rochelle believes there needs to be a lot more mentoring relationships in our community. “It would be much better if the qualified persons or the ones that have had lot more experience would reach out to the younger people and embrace them. Young people can take the initiative too. If there is a field that they want to get into and if they see someone in the community who is doing well in that field, they should get to know that person and try to find out what helped him/her to achieve success and what good advice they might be able to gain from that person.”

She also encourages the youth to always be willing to broaden their horizons. “If you go away to university or get the chance to travel take advantage of such opportunities. See as much of the world as you can see and experience how different people live because it is so easy to become insularized and think that where you live is the entire world. There is so much going on in the world that affects us but because we don’t know how it affects us, we can’t relate, connect or respond to it”.

They say teachers teach by what they are than by what they say and this lends true for this week’s Young Professional Rochelle M. Smith.