Walking past Room 410 on the fourth floor, students might hear an unfamiliar voice teaching a class about history.
The voice belongs to Devika Sewpaul, who joined Baruch as its US History and AP Comparative Government and Politics teacher in late December.
This is Sewpaul’s first year teaching high school. She taught middle schoolers in Elmhurst, Queens and Maui, Hawaii. She taught US History in both places and Hawaiian History and Pacific Studies in Maui.
Sewpaul was born in Guyana but lived in Queens from age six. She attended Queensborough Community College for her associate’s degree, Queens College for her bachelor’s degree and Western Governors University for her master’s.
She moved to HI after the pandemic. She had always felt drawn to the tropical state and got a job there after her old workplace got rid of her position.
“On my vision board every year, there’d be a picture of Hawaii,” she said.
It was a difficult decision, but she ultimately moved back to NY in December as her family and people she’s known for years are here.
“Sometimes, you just want to go to the movies with your friends and hang out,” she said. She also missed the food in NYC.
Sewpaul now lives in Long Island and wakes up at 5 a.m. before starting her two-hour commute consisting of a bus and two train rides to get to school. This is a different routine from Hawaii where she’d hop on her electric bike for a 25-minute ride.
When she returned to the area, she was expecting to secure a substitute position since it was mid-school year. However, BCCHS was in need of a new permanent educator.
Sewpaul originally wanted to be a high school teacher, but ended up teaching younger students after her student-teacher placements in college at both a middle and high school. At the time, she felt like her age was too similar to the high school students and thought middle school would be a better fit. Now, she’s where she had first dreamed of being.
“I struggled in high school and a lot of my teachers supported me, helped me, so I wanted to give back,” she said.
Sewpaul said the biggest difference between teaching middle versus high school is how students act.
“I like that you guys are chill. It’s completely different from middle school. My middle school kids, they stick to me like glue, you don’t get a break,” she said.
She likes how BCCHS students are “super friendly” as well as her new colleagues.
“There is a strong community here, there’s a strong sense of family and togetherness,” she said. “I feel like the intruder a little bit.”
She said she’d integrated into her old schools’ communities comfortably, but realizes it will take more time at Baruch since she joined mid-year. Sewpaul said she’s the type of person to “observe” before opening up, so she hopes she doesn’t come off as isolated to her fellow teachers.
Sewpaul also said she appreciates how her students have welcomed her with open arms, not showing reluctance about their routine changing so abruptly. She thinks it can act as a sort-of life lesson, everything changing when you don’t expect it.
For her AP Comparative Government and Politics class, she is learning the material along with her students and feels pressured due to the AP exam. She said while teaching middle school, she had “the luxury” of not needing to prepare students for a test, having students do creative assignments and “just enjoy the content.”
“If I’ve taught [AP Comparative Government and Politics] for maybe three, four years, then I can find ways to make it fun while preparing for the exam,” said Sewpaul.
Junior Melinda Lee takes Sewpaul’s US History class, which is co-taught by Jennifer Gumina, and likes Sewpaul.
“Everything seems to go smoothly,” said Lee. “She knows how to keep the class in-tact and mainly quiet when she’s teaching.”
Sewpaul no longer has to deal with middle-schoolers’ “emotional issues,” but rather older kids’ academic challenges since high-schoolers are past the stage of developing their personalities and other traits.
“Now, I feel like the role I play as a teacher [is] providing academic support,” she said. “Preparing you for that college experience or at least being an adult.”
Sewpaul said she’s happy to be a Baruchian.
“I’m glad that everyone is being patient with me as I adjust.”
