The sun is shining, I'm back to bike riding, and the tourists are arriving.
I don't think many of you know where we are located, so let me give you an idea.
Recommended for you
We are on an island, off the coast of Maine where most cellphone carriers lose service after crossing the bridge that connects us to the mainland. The campus is based in a town with about 5,000 year-round residents. The population skyrockets in the summer because this "village" survives off the tourist season.
The summer is a hustling, bustling village in which every day, two cruise ships anchor nearby. Getting onto Main St. is such a hassle. Going in to get a bagel at Morning Glory will inevitably turn into a 30-minute wait because the line goes out the front door.
Despite this rush, winters are pretty solitary. I can't complain about this year, but last year it snowed, non-stop, for 7 months. There are about 5 stores open during these months. In order to feel somewhat part of the outside world, one would have to drive to the next town, which is about 30 minutes away. Unfortunately, not many of us have one of those machines with four wheels that travel long distances without feeling exhausted.
We all study Human Ecology (spoiler alert: it's not only about science). The technical term is that we all study the relationship between humans and their surrounding environment, whether that's artists, biologists, humanitarians, anthropologists, economists, physicists, etc. Did I mention there are only 350 of us? And every trimester, a third of the student body is away, either studying abroad, doing their senior projects or fulfilling their internship requirements.
DON'T GET ME WRONG. This place is pretty amazing. We live in the middle of a National Park! My house is on a hill with a trail ... literally in my back yard. Our campus has a pier and a beach! There is an island you can walk to during low tide.
The education is pretty unconventional. The professors here always encourage us to apply the theoretical knowledge to something we are passionate about. The discussions in class are always so enriching that I can easily apply them to real world situations. The goal is not to have a high GPA, but to benefit the most from what the class has to offer.
There are a limited amount of schools in which you can call your professor by their first name, have some brunch and dogsit for them. The relationships between the students and the professors are what help me get through these classes. I am not just another seat filler in the classroom. They care about my academic and professional career and are willing to sit down with me for an hour to talk about anything!
So yes, sometimes I may appear to be out of the loop in pop culture. However, you will see that many of us try our very best to be updated with the current events through social media, news sites, and other online platforms. I think the reason many of us are writing here is to reach a wider audience and to be involved in such a big community. I, personally, hope to reconnect with the outside world by telling them about ours.
