What Students Really Say About Farmington


How did you come to choose Farmington?
Living sort of nearby, I’ve always known UMF existed but I didn’t get seriously interested in the school until I decided I was staying in-state. And this is the best Education school to come to. So I’d say, I came for affordability reasons and because it’s such a good Education school.

When did you know you wanted to teach?
I think I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, of some kind. My idea of what grade-level I’d want to teach has varied over time and I still switch between the middle school level and high school. We’ll see what I end up with.

Your degree with cover both middle school and high school teaching?
Yes, 7th grade through 12th grade.

Tell me a little about the Secondary Education major, what do you like about it?
The thing I like best about my Secondary Ed - Social Science/History program is that it isn’t all just Education or all just History — it’s a good mix of the two. I’ve taken classes in Education, including a Middle-Level class Karen Walker [Assistant Professor of Middle and Secondary Education] taught and it was amazing. If you didn’t want to teach the middle school before having her, you would definitely want to teach it after having her.

In the same sense, the History program here is really great. I’ve taken a bunch of history classes and they’re all amazing and worth it to take. Allison Helper [Associate Professor of History] is great if you’re a woman and want to hear about feminist politics and its historical setting.

What type of History are you interested in?
I like to study about the Depression era, but I like most U.S. History and also Global History, Colonial Africa and things like that, too. I like studying Depression era history because there was a focus on photography at that time, and I'm really into photography.

Would you like to teach History?
Yes. I’m probably going to be qualified to teach Political Science, too, so I’d like to teach either History or Political Science. It depends on where I’m teaching and what my options are. But I’d be happy teaching either one.

Have you had a favorite class here at Farmington?
Yes. I’ve had favorite classes in different subject areas. Karen Walker’s Middle Level class has been my favorite Education class because it was a small class and you talked about everything — exactly what you would face in a school classroom.

I’ve also taken Modern Dance with Margaret Gould Wescott [Assistant Professor of Physical Education] and she is just so much fun! I like that class for much different reasons than I like the other classes, though. But yeah, I’ve had many favorites.

What about your teaching Practicum?
I did my teaching practicum at Mt. Blue High School [in Farmington], so my pupils ranged from freshmen to seniors. I did a Government/History class. [Editor’s note: Teaching Practicum is a requirement in every UMF Education major where students gain hands-on experience in a real classroom situation — working with children, teachers and others. Students spend a certain number of hours per week in an assigned classroom and participate in a weekly seminar.]

Did you like it?
I did like it. It was funny because they placed me with a Republican teacher and I’m a staunch Democrat. When they were doing the placements, the woman who runs practicum said, “You’ll have so much fun because you’ll play off of each other.” And that’s exactly how it was. One of our classes was an Honors Government class, so a lot of what you do is talk about what you think about what’s going on in modern politics. So played off of each other really well — a conservative Republican’s view and a liberal Democrat’s view.

How did the school students respond to that?
I think they took to it in a positive way. In the past, the more liberal-leaning students may have thought, “The teacher doesn’t share my views, what am I going to do?” But when I was there, it gave them an outlet to talk and say, “Okay, maybe he isn’t going to think I’m wrong and there’s somebody who might even agree with me.” So it was good for those students. The majority of the class was neutral, but for the kids who were gung-ho about politics, I think it was very good.

Have you made up your which grade you’d like to teach?
Well, I’ve coached sports at the middle school and high school levels and while I like the subject matter in History at the high school level, I think I like the middle school age group better. I want to teach at a middle school because I think that’s where my type of student is.

That’s fantastic — not many students say they want to teach Middle School.
I know. In my education classes we’re often asked what age level we’d like to teach and most students say, “I want the honors-level high school students.” But I’d prefer middle school students or if I’m hired by a high school, I’d want the lower track kids — the ones who get pushed to the side because they’re not the so-called “smart” students. When I was in high school, I was one of those Advanced Placement kids and I saw how we got special treatment and that other students were almost given up on because they were in a lower track. If I land a job in a high school, I’d want to teach those kids.

Do you feel Farmington is preparing you well to teach?
I do think I’ll be prepared to teach. I know I keep talking about my professor, Karen Walker, but she has been amazing at getting us ready for what we’re going to be doing. In addition to being a faculty member here at UMF, she has done a stint in middle school, high school, administration at the middle school level, so she knows her stuff. And last semester, we went to the New England League of Middle Schools conference, where we got to go to all these different sessions on middle level education. I really like that we get opportunities to go to conferences like that — they really help.

Have you had any work experience besides Practicum?
Right now I work for Mike Muir [Associate Professor of Education] another professor on campus, who does computer stuff for Education. He’s a member of the Maine Middle Level Educators and I work with that organization and things tied to the Maine Learning Technology Initiative, the state “laptop computers in schools” program. I’ve definitely gotten a lot out of that.

I’ve also worked at the on-campus Multimedia Center where I teach other students to use different technology and media programs, so yeah, I’ve been working all over the place. And I also worked with the school's athletic trainer, as her assistant. So I’ve gone from taping knees, to teaching young kids how to use computers, to working with educators on how to teach computers in the classroom. I guess I've done a lot.

Wow, that’s a lot of work. How did you come to do all that?
I took the job with Mike Muir because I thought it would be good for my resume — I’m making a lot of contacts that’ll help me in the future. As a junior, I’ve already gotten job contacts because I’ve met so many school administrators and others in the field who’ve told me, “We know who’s going to retire, and when, so here’s where the job openings will be.” I plan to work for Mike as long as I’m here, not for the contacts but also because I’m learning a lot while I’m working. I feel very strongly that technology has a place in the classroom and I want it to be a part of my classroom, too.

I took the job with Athletics because it was my first year here and I just wanted a job to give me enough money to do whatever. Then I took the Multimedia Center job so I also could do my homework while I was working — combining the two.

Aside from UMF’s Education program, what attracted you to Farmington?
Mostly ... the affordability. Going to college out-of-state would’ve been awesome and I had opportunities to do that, but I come from a single-parent family and I never wanted to accumulate debt. When all is said and done at UMF, I only leave with about $5,000 of debt. Heck, I paid $5,000 for my car so I think I can manage that for my education. That was why this school worked for me — it was less expensive, I can afford it, and it’s close to home. I’m very close to my family and I would never have gone too far. It’s nice that when I want to go home and vote I just have to drive home, I don’t have to vote by absentee ballot and I can go vote with my mom. Things like that are nice.

Are you involved with any on-campus clubs or organizations?
I’ve become involved with the Cheering Club here and I like the different opportunities — there’s a wide variety of clubs here. I also did a stint with the UMF Democrats Club. No matter what you’re interested in, whether it’s Japanese Anime, a sport, something religious or political, you have options here. I think it’s really important that students don’t come here just to take classes. You need the extra-curricular side of college in order to get the whole college experience.

Do you ski?
No. I try … but don’t succeed [laughs].