Alumni Experiences - Rachel Alexandria Vicente - Teaching America

Rachel Vicente is a recent graduate of Syracuse (2012) and will be coming to Chicago soon to work in the public school system as a result of her Teach for America placement. Rachel, who hails from the Boston area, is the youngest of five siblings. She even has a brother and a sister who attended SU.

She did not choose SU because her sister and brother attended. Initially, she did not want to follow in their footsteps. However, she wanted to study pre-med, and she was very impressed with the program that Syracuse offered. SU also provided the best financial aid package.

While at Syracuse, she worked in the Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service her freshman year. She also worked with the Literacy Corps, a mentoring/tutoring program in the Syracuse City School District. She soon began managing 180 tutors and planned diversity and mentoring training.

Rachael refers to this as the defining moment in her life and career path that peaked her interest in teaching: “Being from the suburbs of Boston I was not really familiar with urban education, and I didn't really see what was going on. Syracuse was instrumental in helping me find Teach for America.” She learned about many of the struggles and critical problems urban school districts face, including a lack of funding and resources and outdated technology and materials.

“It just kind of made me realize that education was always important to me,” she said. “I had the benefit of going to an amazing school system. I was able to flourish in that environment. I kind of saw the disadvantage that just because of your circumstances you can't do well or you can't do as well as someone from an urban school, which is the whole idea of the achievement gap that Teach for America approaches.”

Now Rachel is in the Windy City for the first time. She admits that she is nervous about being in Chicago, but she welcomes the experience. “I know I could have gone anywhere,” she said. “I like having challenges when I move to new places, so I guess that is what I'm going to get.”

Syracuse and Teach For America have both been really supportive in helping Rachel with the transition. “I would say thanks to the staff that I worked with at Syracuse University, Bobby Gillen and Colleen McAllister my bosses, and the department/center that I worked with,” Rachel said. “I could call them today and be like, "‘Oh my god, I need this,’" and they would definitely be there.”

Rachel will be teaching at the Youth Connection Charter School, an alternative high school starting this fall.