Finding his niche: English grad hopes to connect students with literature

The Howell, Mich., native failed English class—twice—as a middle school student. But he latched on to the subject once in high school. Sibo credits Deven Parrish, his 10^th grade English teacher, with the turnaround.

“He was someone I could relate to and taught in an interesting way,” he said. “I went from failing English in middle school to taking advanced placement classes my senior year of high school. It was quite a big swing in just five years.”

But even with his newfound interest and success, Sibo didn’t automatically think of a future in English—after all, he thought, it’s not the most practical career field. He took a few programming and computer design courses in high school, thinking that could provide a stable career. But that didn’t stick. He thought of pursuing a degree in psychology, but didn’t connect with that either.

“English was always in the back of my mind,” he said. “It’s the one thing I really enjoy that has an academic niche to it.”

And so Sibo pursued a bachelor’s degree in English, graduating Sunday from University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Ultimately, he said, he’d like to become the kind of teacher he connected to in high school and college. His goal is to teach at the collegiate level, sharing his passion for English and 18^th and 19^th century literature with his students.

He’ll get a head start on those ambitions as a graduate student at Penn State University. Sibo accepted a fully funded offer to the university’s master’s and Ph.D. programs in English. As part of the program, he will begin teaching college students this fall.

“I think the wide range of courses and experiences offered here—there’s so much well-roundedness. It’s prepared me well,” Sibo said, adding he also will present at next month’s Meeting of Minds as extra preparation.

And, Sibo said, he can always reach out to the people who helped strengthen his resolve to pursue a career in English. “I really enjoyed the professors I had here; they were all very helpful. I’ve been told numerous times to stay in touch.”