Years down the line, after finding a job, raising a family and putting a deposit down on that first home with a two car garage and a nice green lawn, you will sit back on the porch and think about the life you lived. There’s a good chance that in your moment of contemplative solitude, the University of Maine will cross your mind. What will you think about when staring down the crossroads of all that life has to offer a young soul? Classes, failed exams, the smell of the wind as the snow begins to melt beneath the spring sun? I think not, what you’ll remember is the friends you made, the community you cultivated, the moments of shared adolescence without the weight of a cruel world upon your shoulders.
When I think of UMaine, I think of the faces of those closest to me. How has UMaine shaped the relationships we hold in our personal lives and in our collective identity? How have the changing times affected the way these communities look and form?
Brenna Martens, a graduate student who has been at UMaine since 2020, offered her view of what it means to be a part of the UMaine community.
“I feel like I was told a lot about how UMaine was before COVID, and I think community at UMaine means a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but for me, it’s the people that you know that make college fun, friends and people that you have shared interests with. During my undergrad, one of my big communities was the marching band. But you know, it also just means something different to everybody.”
UMaine, like all institutions, has changed drastically over the last six years following the pandemic. Quarantine tore down many traditions and communities. In this global paradigm shift there’s a much smaller story of how our local communities have been warped by years of social distancing, replacing physical proximity with the artifice of digital identity.
With this remembrance comes the sense that something has been lost, that what remains is not as good as what was. But is that truly the case for UMaine? Have we lost our sense of community, or is this just the citric taste of nostalgia which makes us mourn that which never was?
While reflecting upon her six years, Martens seemed to feel that there may be a truth to the perceived loss of community at UMaine.
“Because of the COVID era, everyone was online a lot and everyone did a lot of online stuff, and they were doing that because there was no other option. But now everyone’s gotten so comfortable in that online space that you don’t see as much connection, like, just authentic connection with people, just out of nowhere, you know?”
But all that being said, Martens is not disheartened. What she perceives is not the post pandemic death of the college community, but a transitional rebirth.
“A lot of clubs fell off and a lot of student organizations left, but in the last few years, especially now as a grad student, you can kind of look at the campus a little bit differently and I think that in general, they’ve been trying to do a lot more to push people to being in groups again, and giving groups some level of funding, some level of voice or recognition on campus.”
There’s a community out there for every one of you, might it be the birding club, math club, student gov, greek life, wrestling, wildlife society or hammocking. Whatever it is that gets you out of bed in the morning. Don’t let cynicism and doubt be the ruler of your time on this campus. College will be over before you know it and there’s nothing worse than looking back and remembering what could have been.
