What Students Really Say About Farmington


What do you like about the Biology program here at Farmington?
It’s very challenging. All the professors here really make you think. At the college I transferred from, I had a lot of professors who would just you spoon-feed you information, but I wanted to really get out there and do science for myself — not just be handed experiments out of a book. Here at Farmington, the professors are very approachable. You’re never on your own, but they make you work for what you get.

Do you do a lot of out-of-the-classroom projects?
I worked at Maine Biological Laboratories where they make poultry vaccinations. That was very interesting and made me realize I wouldn’t like lab work so much but that I could definitely do it. I like being more in touch with the outside. Being in an enclosed lab building without windows just wasn’t my thing. But the experience was great. I learned a lot.

What have been your favorite classes here at UMF?
Two of my favorite classes were General Physiology and Comparative Anatomy because we did a lot of labs with dissections and you got to see how a real animal works, which is different than looking in a book.

In Physiology, we looked at how frog muscles work and how frog muscles are so similar to how many mammal muscles work. In Comparative Anatomy, we studied sharks. There were lab groups of two or three people and we each had our own dissection specimen that we studied all semester. It was smelly but it was interesting and I learned a lot. I also found that the diagrams in the books, even though they’re awesome, don’t look anything like the real thing. There’s a lot to learn when you look at a real animal. It was really fascinating.

Have you had any labs you’ve really enjoyed?
The second week of school, my Ecology class went outside to catch dragonflies. I had never tired to do it before and I thought it would be easy and it wasn’t — but it was a lot of fun. I never realized how many different types of dragonflies there are and how different they are and how beautiful they are. I wasn’t a big bug fan, but we did it for two weeks and I looked forward to the second week because it so much fun and we got to spend some time in the sun. It was neat — very memorable.

Have you taken a class here that has changed your view of science or of life?
Well, I’m taking Ecology right now, which is a senior-level Biology class. You make it there and you know that you’re done. I’ve already learned what careers are out there in the workplace and that it’s OK to not know exactly where you want to go. There’s just so much to chose from, you should just go out and get your feet wet and try something and think for yourself and put yourself out there.

What do you think is a strength of Farmington's Biology program?
Definitely that all the professors are very knowledgeable about the areas they teach. And I’ve never had a class with a Biology professor here who isn’t passionate and doesn’t absolutely love what they’re teaching. It becomes more fun because their energy and enthusiasm is contagious. And when you go to them for help they’re willing to tell you everything they know. That’s fascinating too, because you know these professors have worked really hard to learn all of that information and it’s nice they’re so willing to share their knowledge and enthusiasm.

Who do you go to for academic advice?
My faculty advisor, Grace Eason, [Assistant Professor of Science and Science Education] and Mary Schwanke [Professor of Biology] have been incredibly helpful to me. They’re both very interested in what their students do and what their interests are. If I have any questions about my classes or if I’m looking for some after-UMF career advice, I can pop into Grace’s or Mary’s office and they’re each more than willing to talk with me about my ideas.

As a dual major, do you see Psychology and Biology mixing or are those separate interests?
They’re actually more similar than I thought. With Biology, you see all the mechanical aspects of life and you learn how things work. And Psychology is more of the bigger picture — it helps me get an overall view of what’s going on around me. My Psychology classes are a lot of fun, we do a lot of group work and you get to know a lot of people — it’s really refreshing. It has taught me to interact better with people. I use to be really shy, but my Psych classes helped bring me out of my shell and I’ve had a lot of fun, so I have decided to keep going with it.

You transferred into Farmington from another school, right?
Yeah. I thought UMF would be really fun and I really like Farmington because it was part of the town, whereas my other school was very secluded and we never got to see any of the community. The other college was never involved with the community and I wanted to go someplace where they campus and town were more intertwined.

Having transferred to UMF, what do you like about it now that you’ve been here for while?
I like that we’re accepted as part of the community and that the community surrounds us. I didn’t like being so secluded at my other school and the community really didn’t seem too happy to have us there. Here, it’s completely the opposite. You go into a Farmington business, and they seem to respect you — and they actually like it when school opens again each fall. I also like that everything you could need is within walking distance, that the campus is small and surrounded by hills. And Sugarloaf is just down the road. Farmington has a lot of bonuses.

Happy you switched schools?
Very happy.

What do you do for fun around here?
I like to horseback and ski. There’s a local farm where I ride and have taken horseback riding lessons. There are a lot of farms in the area that give riding lessons, so it's very accessible.

I ski, too, and usually I go to Sugarloaf. My best friend’s grandparents have a condo up at Sugarloaf, so it’s nice to get away some weekends. I also love to go for walks and relax with my friends.

What do you plan to do when you graduate?
Right now, I’m working part-time as a pharmacy technician for Hannaford Supermarket, so I was thinking about getting into pharmaceutical sales or applying to pharmacy school or some related area. I’m pretty adaptable.

Do you feel UMF is preparing you well for when you leave?
I definitely do. I’ve been to the Center for Human Development and met with a career counselor — which is weird because when I was a freshman and a sophomore I was freaked out because my ideas of what I wanted to do for a career kept changing and I was getting nervous that I was going to get all these years of education under my belt and not know what to do with myself when I graduated. The career center people here were really nice, supporting me in what I was doing and helping me to stop stressing out.

So, I’m really excited to see what’s out there for me. I think I have a broad enough base that I can do anything I’m interested in. I really do.