What Students Really Say About Farmington


Molly Bell
Community Health Education major
Health Advocate, Varsity Soccer Player
From Caribou, Maine

What brought you to UMF?
My parents both came to school here, so I had a family connection but I came for a campus tour and liked the place and thought it seemed friendly. I liked the atmosphere.

Were your parents Education majors?
Yes, they both were.

When you were growing up, did your parents talk about Farmington?
Well, my mom is originally from the area, so we came to visit sometimes. So, I've seen the campus since I was pretty young.

Was it obvious that you would come here?
No. It was actually a last-minute decision for me. I didn’t know where I wanted to go and I hadn’t decided what I wanted to do. I chose Farmington because it's a Liberal Arts college.

Did you come in undeclared?
Yes. I took a few classes, Intro to Nutrition and Food and Culture, and the professors seemed to really enjoy what they were doing and I liked the classes. I started taking some Community Health Ed classes toward the end of my sophomore year because I knew that was the area I wanted to get into.

Have you had a favorite class?
Not any one class in particular — I've liked all the classes in Community Health Ed and I'm glad I decided on that area.

Could you talk about an interesting project you’ve had to do for a class?
I did a project last year on childhood obesity, which is interesting because Maine has a serious problem with that. Right now, I'm doing a Community Health Ed project on smoking cessation, which is still in progress but it's very interesting. First, we surveyed students on campus about smoking to see if they want to quit and then looked at different ways we can help them to quit. We meet as a small group once a week outside class and then share our research with the rest of the class and our professor. Next, we're going to do a health survey for the HEA100 class.

Do you have a favorite professor?
Dr. Bryant [Assoc. Professor of Health Education] I like a lot. She was one of the people to help me decide on Farmington. She's passionate about what she does and that has rubbed off on me. I had a Food and Culture class with her and also Intro to Nutrition. In our class we learned about different cultures' foods and then we each had to do a presentation on our cultural heritage. I'm Lebanese, so I presented on my Lebanese background. It was fun, you got to know a little more about your classmates.

That sounds interesting. What was the project like?
Everyone made food, we brought in however much food we wanted to bring in. I brought in an activity we always do during holidays and presented how my ancestors got here.

Are you involved in any campus activities?
I play varsity soccer here, which is awesome — I love it. I'm also on the Student Mentors and UMF Athletic Advisory Council.

Tell me more about the women's soccer team. How did you get involved?
Well, I wasn’t really recruited to play, but during my senior year of high school I talked to the UMF women's soccer coach and was encouraged to try out when I arrived on campus. So I tried out and I made the team! I just love being on the soccer team — it's great. I love that about Farmington, you get to meet a lot of great people through athletics.

Did you have a hard time balancing class work and varsity sports?
[Laughs] Actually, I do better in school when I have a lot on my plate. I manage my time better.

Do you live in the residence halls?
Yes, I live in the new one, Frances Allen Black Hall, the suite-style dorm. It's good, all of us are friends and we love it.

Residence hall life in general, do you like it?
Yeah, I like it. I’ve met so many more people and you stay in touch with more people because you see them every day. I'd definitely recommend it. I'm a junior right now and I plan on living on campus my senior year, too.

Do you work while going to school?
I do. I have a work-study job where I work men's and women's basketball games and other events held in Dearborn Gym.

What do you do with your friends for fun?
We go to the movies a lot. And it's nice to get outdoors, too. My roommates ski and stuff so I go skiing with them a lot. That's what's good in this area, there is a lot of outdoors things to do. We'll also go outside and play Frisbee or soccer, just doing outdoor stuff.

What do you do for fun around campus?
We go to the events in the Landing, the Popcorn Cinema there is nice if you want to catch a movie. And there's a band coming to campus next week and we're all planning on going to see them. Oh, and we play intramurals, too. There's a lot to do on campus.

What are some things Farmington does really well?
I think that UMF has a very strong academic program. And I think that it does a good job with athletics too, our teams usually do pretty well in the conference. Campus dining is good for the most part, too. I think we have really good food compared to other colleges I’ve been to. And I really like the Fitness & Rec Center.

What do you hope to do when you graduate?
I want to be a physical therapist so I plan on going to graduate school right from here.