What Students Really Say About Farmington


Tell me a bit about the Political Science/Social Science major here at Farmington.
Well, it’s an Interdisciplinary major where you take many Political Science courses and courses from the other disciplines in the Social Sciences Department. For instance, I took two classes in Sociology, two in Anthropology and two in History to help complete my Political Science major.

Have you taken some particularly interesting classes in Political Science/Social Science?
Constitutional Law was definitely my favorite course so far at UMF. I think it was the way Dr. Melcher [Associate Professor of Political Science] taught the course. In class, we debated fellow students on actual court cases. It was really cool. The material is what interested me the most. I’m very interested in the Constitution and in class we’d talk about whether it’s a living document and about some of the tests you’d use for some of the different court cases. I learned a lot from it.

Any other great classes come to mind?
Some other good classes I’ve taken are Presidency and Congress, Civil Liberties, International Law and Organization, and Practical Law where we did an internship. So that was really cool. That class met once a meet, and we met with our internship supervisors on our own. I think we put in about 15 hours a week on that one class, which is a lot. But it was so much fun. The people I worked with were really interesting. I learned a lot about how an initiative gets put on the ballot and what kinds of political interests people advocate for.

How do you plan on using your Political Science/Social Science degree?
I think I’d like to be involved in the field of politics but I don’t know exactly which specific area. There are just so many things I can do with it. [Laughs] My faculty advisor asks me every time when I go into his office, "What are you going to do after you graduate? What's your game plan?" Can I just say, "something in politics?" [laughs].

Have you taken a specific class that has changed your viewpoint?
There was a class that has really affected my future. I took Outdoor Recreation my sophomore year. Me, being the brilliant person that I am, decided it’d be a good idea to go rock climbing and it wasn’t even a month after I had surgery to have a plate taken out of my arm [laughs]. Well, I broke my arm the first day of class and I realized I’m not as invincible as I think. I learned I really need to slow down and not think I can just do everything.

What do you feel is a strength of UMF's Political Science/Social Science program?
The Political Science professors here are always available to students. They’re always willing to help you with a question, to point you in the right direction. I’d say the professors at Farmington are incredibly student-oriented and they encourage you to think outside the box. And they also encourage you to disagree with them. The always show you both sides of an issue — not just how they personally feel about the issue.

Tell me more about your professors. What are they like?
Dr. Melcher’s just an amazing lecturer. He’s so fun to just sit and watch. In his lectures he does voices and impersonations of everyone — presidents, politicians, news people, celebrities, you name it. Waleck Dalpour [Professor of Business] and Ken Orosz [Associate Professor of History] are really good professors, too — brilliant.

What has been your favorite part of coming to UMF?
I'd have to say the people I’ve met here.

OK, I just have to ask ... you're from Dallas, Texas, how did you hear about Farmington?
Well, I was on a family vacation and we were driving up the East Coast — my father wanted me to see my heritage. See, my family used to have this big house on Sebago Lake and he wanted me to see it. So after we visited Sebago we headed north to Canada and we drove right past UMF and I just said, “Wow, I should go to college here.” I also remember there were a lot of trees and we don’t have trees back home in Texas, but here we have real trees. So that was part of the appeal — that and the snow. Even though I'm from Texas, I don’t like the heat, so anywhere cold is good with me.

Did you visit the campus before you applied?
I didn’t tour the school before I applied, but I did come here for the UMF Summer Experience program. That was the first time I actually visited UMF.

What attracted you to Farmington?
I liked that it was so small. I went to a really big high school, so it was one of those things where I just wanted something smaller — someplace where I would actually get to know the people in my classes.

Do you think UMF could draw more Texans?
If they’d send a representative down to my area, I guarantee you people would definitely apply if they knew about it.

So, what do you plan on doing after you graduate?
I’m looking into a couple things but I’m not quite sure. I’d really like to go on to graduate school but I don’t want to do it right away so right now, I’m looking into going into the Peace Corps. But eventually, I’d like to get my doctorate in Political Science.

Do you have any sage advice for an incoming student?
Going to your classes is always a good thing to do [laughs]. I would highly recommend that. Seriously, sometimes you could have an A in a class but you end up pulling a B because you didn’t show up all the time. Getting stuff done ahead of time is good, too. And if you have a problem, talk to your professors.