Nov 17, 2017 | Feature |
By Gavin Elliott – Contributing Writer
UMF recently hosted a Peace Corps panel that featured current, prospective and past members of the organization discussing their goals to help people in need, their uncertain expectations and how the program helped them.
The event kicked off with a video from 2016 UMF graduate Elizabeth Ferry, who is currently stationed in Tanzania. The audience of 40-some-odd people watched as Ferry walked around her modest home.
“Why the Peace Corps? It wasn’t the plan,” Ferry pondered. “I went to the same panel you are at now, heard the people speak, was pretty inspired, and thought, why not pursue education and service at the same time and why not do it abroad?”
Reflecting on her 17 months of service with a big smile painted across her face, Ferry stated that “[joining] has been the best decision I’ve ever made…every day [the secondary school students] teach me more than I teach them.”
Afterwards, 2016 graduate Katy Schrader talked about her first year in Mozambique as a Peace Corps volunteer via video. She discussed her previous expectations of possibly living in a small village without running water and electricity and her surprise when she got placed in a “three bedroom house with an indoor bathroom, running water, and energy.”
Schrader also talked about her role as a teacher of future primary school teachers in Mozambique. “I spend lots of time watching my kids student teach,” said Schrader. “I know that my future students are changing education in Mozambique. It has been really amazing to watch the transformation of how they first started student teaching to how I have taught them.”
Katy Schrader with all the second year students from the teachers training college on their last day of class. Next year the student teach for a whole year.
Photo Courtesy of Katy Schrader.
People then got to hear from two UMF seniors; Danny Marshall, who will be departing to Mongolia in May to co-teach English and Lindsay Gorman, who is hoping to travel to Ghana to teach special education.
Together, they discussed the long process of applying for the Peace Corps and suggested that anyone seriously interested should apply the summer before their senior year.
Members who had already served then began to speak of their expectations versus the reality. Linda Beck, a UMF professor in Political Science said, “when I went in, I envisioned all of the Senegalese I would get to know, and I made wonderful friends, but what I hadn’t anticipated was what incredible fellow Americans I would meet while in Senegal…one of which became my husband.”
Grinning, President Kathryn Foster remembered that she feared she would be served “goat eyeballs by a host family and expected to eat them” when deployed in Swaziland.
The crowd laughed at her recollection. Although Foster never was served goat eyeballs, she did learn a great deal about “how to be and live and be successful in a different culture.”
The previous Peace Corps’ members also discussed how much they did outside their designated area of work. Jo Josephson, one of the Peace Corps’ first members to travel to Ghana in 1963, was appointed to teach biology but ended up working on literary magazines, coaching soccer and driving the school lorry.
“I even worked in a bush hospital on the weekends helping deliver babies!” said Josephson.
Wrapping up the panel, President Foster discussed the support of the Peace Corps. “The first ten weeks when I went [to Swaziland] was just with other Peace Corps volunteers learning about the culture, food, ceremonies, and language,” she said. “So, you really feel like you have a network, even when you’re posted to a remote village.”
To learn about opportunities to challenge yourself and be a part of the Peace Corps contact Career Counselor Cyndi McShane at cynthia.mcshane@maine.edu for more information.
Nov 17, 2017 | Feature |
By Elina Shapiro – Contributing Writer
As I turn the corner to approach my room in Stone hall, I hear a cheery voice, saying “Howdy! How are you doing?” and suddenly it doesn’t matter that I was soaked in the rain, freezing from the snow, or just did poorly on an assignment. I am excited because that means I am about to talk to Steve Decker, Stone Hall’s custodian.
Steve Decker, beloved Stone custodian
Photo Courtesy of Elina Shapiro
Decker, always smiling, is great at giving life advice. “He helped me through a tough time last year when I lived in Stone,” said Kelsey Dunn, a senior Early Childhood Education major at UMF. “He told me a personal story that shaped my decision making and made my life more positive.”
Decker has only worked in Stone, but he spreads enthusiasm around campus. “Last year when I walked up to Stone, he was waving to everyone saying, ‘How are you doing?’ and ‘Have a great day!” said Dunn.
Students are Decker’s favorite part of his job. “You don’t know what they’re going through. You might say, ‘hey, how are you doing?’ and that’s all they need,” said Decker with compassion in his eyes. “Life’s too short to worry about things, you help where you can.”
When I transferred to UMF, I was nervous because I didn’t know anyone. Steve made the transition easier because he was a consistent figure in my life who cared about how my tests went, when I was going to see my family next, and how I was doing overall.
Dunn, also a transfer student, felt similarly. “Having Steve be that friend my first year after transferring was like having someone that I could go to for laughs, someone to get advice and guidance, and someone I could go to if I ever needed,” said Dunn. “To this day, I’m still grateful for all he’s done for me–whether it is stopping me in the hall just to say ‘hi’ or catch up to helping me get my car out of the snow last winter.”
In addition to making a difference by talking with students, Decker also made the Stone lounge much cozier. He and his wife added blankets, stuffed animals, and photos to make the area look more like inviting and help people who were homesick.
“He’s very committed,” said Alyssa Higbie, a junior Elementary Education major at UMF. “He’s made this a home, not a dorm.”
Decker won the “Phil Watts” award twice, once when he first started seven years ago, and again last year. The Phil Watts award is given to UMF custodians based on student votes. Members of the CRC (Campus Residence Council) then tally up the votes. Higbie highlighted that not only Stone Hall residents voted for him, but students all around campus.
Decker goes above and beyond to help students. Last winter, Higbie’s car was stuck in an ice dam, and within the hour, Decker reported to her that he had shoveled her out.
“He does everything–snow blows, sands, cleans the stairs, bathrooms, floors, as well as vacuums, takes the trash out–he goes all over the place,” said Dunn with sparkling eyes. “He’ll do any big thing to little thing. He does it because he wants to make the community great.”
Decker cares about every single person and makes them feel loved. Coming to college is hard, Decker is one of the first reasons I found Farmington and UMF to be another home. Decker not only does his custodian jobs, he is also a wonderful mentor and friend to all students.
“Steve is a memory that will last forever. His personality, care, hard work, honesty, is something that I aspire to be as a teacher and a person in general,” said Dunn. “Steve is invited to my graduation if he’s not already attending.”
Nov 17, 2017 | Opinion |
By Haiyu Zheng – Contributing Writer
Seven UMF InterVarsity Christian Fellowship members were refreshed both physically and spiritually after a three-day fall retreat in Toah Nipi Retreat and Training Center in New Hampshire. Including students from 13 other campuses in Northern New England, there were over 100 students attending this fall conference.
Students attending the UMF InterVarsity in fall conference. (Back row, l to r: Haiyu Zheng, Darci Goslin, Jacob Marcoux, Ben Daly-LaBelle, Abdi Hassan, Lillian Hunt) (front row, l to r: Armando Jaku, Yamah Dolo and Lindsay Marcoux)
Photo Courtesy of Jacob Marcoux
For Christians, a retreat is a quintessential time away from daily activities which distract them from going deeper in their faith and spending time getting reacquainted with God. Combined with conferences and activities, it offers people a quiet place to find peace and experience renewal.
The woods outside and the woody décor inside, along with little lights hanging on the wall, created a relaxing atmosphere. In the biggest meeting room of Toah Nipi Hebron, students from different cultural backgrounds converged to worship God in one voice and pray earnestly for each other as a community. Their faith affirmed the beauty of the unity beyond all ethnicity in Christ.
With the theme of “Hope and Healing in a Broken world: Find a way forward,” powerful testimonies and sermons were shared by different speakers, followed by small group discussions and prayer time. The reflection gave students encouragement and inspiration, leaving them with a new perspective in their walk with Christ.
UMF freshman Lillian Hunt found strength and hope in other people’s stories.“It made me feel like more comforted to know that I’m not alone and there are a bunch of people going through what I’m going through,” she said.
Annie Ahn, a sophomore from Colby College noted that the “silent time” with God was another indispensable part of this retreat.
“I really enjoyed the silent time when I spent an hour and a half away from the noise just concentrating on reflecting on God and talking to Him individually.” Taking a sip of coffee, Ahn smiled, the overflowing joy in her heart written all over her face.
Ahn was not the only person who felt reenergized during the silent time. Toah Nipi provides students numerous areas to sit, wander and pray. Scattering in different directions, some students chose to stay in their room reading the Bible, some sat at the picnic table outside praying while enjoying an incredible view of surrounding hills, and some lay on the grass meditating in the pleasant fall weather.
In addition to the spiritual growth, recreation including sports, boating and board games also provided students with chances to make friends across schools and get to know people from their own schools better.
Jake Marcoux, the leader of UMF InterVarsity group, expressed his willingness to include everyone in the group no matter what background they come from.
“We have to relate to people in the group differently, to be intuitive and think about what they are thinking about, such as someone who came from International settings or someone who’s not a believer, ”said Marcoux.
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship is an interdenominational, evangelical Christian campus ministry founded in 1941, working with students and faculty on U.S. college and university campuses. Retreats and mission trips are held all year round.
There will be a Serve-Up trip intended to help with the recovery effort in places that were affected by the hurricane during spring break next year. More information can be found on InterVarsity website at: https://intervarsity.org
Nov 17, 2017 | News |
By Leah Boucher – Staff Reporter
Mitchell Walston is the man behind the lens of Humans of UMF, a Facebook page created early this fall that showcases pictures of UMF community members and tells their personal stories.
Walston, a senior Secondary Education Biology major, recently discovered his love of photography and was inspired by the Humans of New York Facebook page, where photographer Brandon Stanton chooses random people on the streets of New York to interview.
“I’ve always liked the Humans of New York series because it’s a great way to share stories through pictures as well as quotes,” said Walston. “I’ve gotten more into photography within this past year, so I put those two ideas together to form Humans of UMF in the beginning of October.”
At first, Walston only asked his friends to participate in order to get a feel for how to conduct interviews and take pictures. Now, he is reaching out to students he sees on campus that he may not know to allow for a diverse range of personal narratives in his project.
“Everybody’s got a story and a life that’s complex and interesting once we take the time to ask,” said Walston, “but that’s not something we think about often because we’re all so focused on ourselves.”
Sage van Eekhout, a junior Secondary Education Social Studies major who was interviewed by Walston in the beginning of his project, knows that the diversity Walston is trying to capture on campus is what makes it unique.
“Everyone brings their own story and experiences with them,” said van Eekhout. “It’s a great way to celebrate our differences while still showing we’re a community.”
Humans of UMF was recently asked to partner with TRIO and Upward Bound to celebrate the stories of first-generation college students, but Walston hopes that other organizations and clubs will ask to partner with him as well.
“I love that the UMF community wants to collaborate with Humans of UMF,” he said. “It reaffirms for me that people are interested in reading what I am putting out on social media; I already have about 400 followers on the Facebook page.”
Caption: Jasmine Athamni was interviewed in October as part of the Humans of UMF project.
Photo Courtesy of Mitchell Walston
Jasmine Athamni, a sophomore Early Childhood Education major, did not know Mitchell well when he asked her to participate, but she shared personal details from her life in an effort to let others know that previous obstacles and struggles can be left behind.
“I felt like joining Humans of UMF was a big way for me to feel comfortable with my past and remind me that I’m a better person now.” said Athamni. “I shared in my interview that I struggled adjusting to UMF, and I’m sure there are others who will read my story and know that sometimes, it just takes time to adjust.”
Although Walston is a senior and will be leaving next May to pursue a career in teaching, he hopes to make photography a summer job when he is not in the classroom. “This project has allowed me to get better with my communication and especially photography skills,” he said, “and if I continue this project through the rest of the year, I think I can look back to where I started and see major growth.”
He also hopes that after he leaves, another UMF student will be willing to step up and take over Humans of UMF. “My goal before I graduate is that I can find someone who is willing to commit their time to this project,” said Walston.” It’s not difficult to gather the interviews and pictures, but it can be time consuming, and I want it to continue long after I leave.”
