ON HIGHER GROUND
BY ELENA ROMERO

For Robin N. Buncamper, a native of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, going back to school in 1990 was a way to get promoted and grow within the education field. “I was an adult with obligations and responsibilities,” says Robin, who at the time was an educational associate for the Department of Education (DOE). “CWE accommodated, even celebrated the unique needs and demands of adults dedicated to their studies.”

Robin’s learning experience quickly transcended the physical classroom. According to Robin, her professors “brought the world” to CWE through literature, film, music, art, media and theatre. “At CWE, I found my voice,” says Robin, who studied English literature in Cambridge, England through CWE’s study abroad program. “I blossomed into and award-winning and published writer.” Graduating CWE, Robin was fully prepared for all her subsequent career choices. Robin went on to earn her M.S. in Education from Long Island University, which she claims was relatively a “smooth and uncomplicated process partially because of the skills “she learned at CWE. Today, Robin is a teacher of children with special needs for the Department of Education. She is an active member of the Sickle Cell Thalassemia Network.

Personal Achievements/Awards:
•  Alumni Association of the City College of New York
•  Mellon Minority Undergraduate Fellow, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
    (1991-4)
•  Ada Shepard Creative Writing Award, 1993
•  Heymann Fund Scholarship, 1992