Yensen Lambert has taught Spanish at the Upper School since 2010 and currently serves as interim chairwoman of the world languages department. She holds a B.A. in Spanish from Rutgers and has completed additional studies at Universidad de Salamanca (Spain) and Hunter College (N.Y.) She is a native Spanish speaker with more than a decade of teaching experience. Ms. Lambert has taught beginner, intermediate and advanced Spanish as well as ESL and elective courses, including Latin American culture, ballroom dancing and Zumba Fitness. She is a trained interpreter and a skilled written translator of literary work. Ms. Lambert is also the mother of current student Ezra ('22).
What encouraged you to come to Darlington?
I lived in Florida before I moved to Rome, and living in New York prior to that, I missed the diversity. At Darlington, it feels like a tiny international oasis.
Are you excited to be coaching The Darlington Diamonds this year?
Yes! We have a group of girls who are completely drama free. There is no competition and they help each other any way they can to get better. They're very disciplined, and they don't really need much help from me because they make their own choreography. Every now and then, I make suggestions or give my input, but they are very independent.
At home football games, I feel great standing in front of them making sure they can be seen. I'm very excited about basketball season, where we can get out of the bleachers and get more footwork involved. I'm looking forward to that because there are a lot of ideas that I have that require the use of your feet and not your arms.
Being born in the Dominican Republic, how do you like the mixture of culture and diversity at Darlington?
I've been out of the Dominican Republic for a long time. I was about 11 or 12 when I moved to New York. However, the Dominican culture is very much alive in that area. Everyone I grew up around was either Dominican or Cuban, and coming to Rome was a huge change for me. I interact a lot with the Latin American international students, and they relate to me, and I to them. I've become like an adoptive mother to them and I treat them like my own. I like the fact that I can share my culture with others, and Darlington facilitates that urge to share my heritage.
What do you love most about Darlington?
I love the fact that it feels like a home, and I'm not only saying that because I live on campus. Everybody is connected and knows each other in some shape or form. Kids come to my classroom on their own time, where they hang out and interact with me, so it feels like one big family. My son comes on campus and everybody knows him. He hangs out in the boys' dorms, the girls' dorms, and everywhere else because Darlington is such a welcoming place. With that being said, it feels like a community. It doesn't feel like I'm going to work; it's just what I do. It's a very special place.
As a teacher of members of the senior class, what advice would you give for them to take from Darlington as they enter the real world?
Going back to the speech I made in chapel, this is a great school with a lot of opportunities. I hope they take advantage of every opportunity that they have. Of course, I hope that they do well in their classes and get straight A's. But I also hope that they fall in love with learning and not just with learning to get a grade -- which is learning to be a good individual and global citizen and to have a lot of integrity. I also hope that they give some substance to their lives, and the grades that they have here.
