The Free Press

Life after high school doesn’t always mean college comes next. Some students choose to go the traditional route and jump immediately into a university, some choose to take a gap year, and some may even choose to take a few classes a semester while working full or part-time jobs. Emily Brazee didn’t think she would go to college at...

By Haley Hersey, Staff Writer As warmer weather approaches, the COVID-19 pandemic is still here, which is evident as positive test results surge throughout Maine and the University of Maine System. Efforts to continue learning in settings as close to normal are underway, as the spread of vaccines continues. However, decreases in weekly tests campus-wide are proving to be worrisome.  According...

The USM Counseling team is concerned about the care we provide for all our students, our USM community and the larger community. We are a group of 15 and we are mostly white clinicians, and mostly female with three men on our team, one man is African American, and the other two men are white, one of which oversees the...

By: Laura St.Pierre, Staff Writer Policymaking, community-building initiatives, and evaluations of youth-serving programs have embraced quantitative research data, however, they lack qualitative substance. The lived experiences of youth within these systems are incredibly valuable information that can help accelerate these programs' success.  The University of Southern Maine's Cutler Institute recently published a 34-page report titled, "Transitioning From Youth to Adulthood: Mapping...

COVID-19. This word conjures up a lot: disruption, fear, anxiety, limitations, 6 feet apart, masks, no gatherings, social distancing, no hugs or hanging out with friends, and for many death and loss. The fight is not over.  Vaccination is one way to arrest this virus and return to some normalcy.    To reach safe levels of protection experts report we need...

Learning about yourself and growing as a person is one of the most important parts of the college experience. With a student’s transition into independence, there are trials and tribulations involved, but the end product is a person who better understands themselves, how they think, how they learn, and how they interact with the world outside of college. For...

Three very important factors to making a Division III Athletics program successful are the players, coaches, and administrators. Without these pillars, the University of Southern Maine wouldn’t have the successful program it does.  In honor of Women’s History Month, The Free Press wanted to highlight and honor three individuals who work, coach, and play in each of these important areas....

Happy Women’s History Month. As we enter the month to honor the bold, powerful women of the 21st century, it is important to feature stories and platforms that showcase women of color, the queer community, and anyone who identifies as a woman. In 2021, the feminist movements that have been front and center include but are not limited to,...

Bernadette Esposito grew up in the suburbs of Chicago in Wheaton and Downers Grove and attended The Evergreen State College, a small liberal arts college in Olympia, WA. She received her MFA from the University of Iowa and has taught in California and Wyoming. She’s been in Maine for seven years; After five years of teaching at Maine College...

Laura St.Pierre, Staff Writer The University of Southern Maine has received $100,000 from Hannaford Supermarkets to boost USM scholarships supporting diversity and equity in educational opportunities. The donation will cover the entirety of USM's Access to Education Scholarship Fund (AESF) for two years. AESF encourages a dynamic and diverse student population at USM and was established in 2017. It provides scholarship...

By Haley Hersey, Staff Writer The COVID-19 pandemic has unprecedented mental, emotional, and financial adverse effects on lives. The implications of the effects of the pandemic are being talked about more frequently, but often college students are being left out of the discussion.  With stimulus packages being presented to Congress that support families and dependents, college-aged kids are regularly being forgotten....

Tucked between the Sullivan Gym and the empty shell of the Woodbury Campus Center sits a building that goes relatively unnoticed. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, it blends right into the gym, and you would never think it’s the home for a whole media studies major, as it sits within that little yellow building. 21 Durham...

Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, how and where we spend our time has been a national conversation and collective experience. Our work, academic, and leisure environments have all been impacted by the pandemic. Members of the diverse USM community have adapted to these changes, finding new ways of living that enable them to make the most of their situations. Before COVID-19,...

Byline: Isiah Leach, Staff Writer Longtime great director Christopher Nolan’s newest movie, Tenet, was one of the movies that was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year. It was delayed three times before finally being released in certain theaters on Sept. 3, 2020.  Before I go into reviewing this movie, I will give my personal opinion on how I thought...

By Haley Hersey, Staff Writer Director of Justice Policy Program at the Muskie Institute, George Shaler, is one of the researchers and authors of a first-of-its-kind study regarding the use of alternative sentencing in Maine. The Maine Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence approached Shaler and some colleagues, wanting to learn more about how deferred...

While it has gone by quickly for some, slowly for others, and somehow both for many, it has been a year since lockdowns for COVID-19 first began. After a year of change and adversity it’s time to take stalk of how we are taking care of ourselves, how we have adapted, and how we have grown. Last year renowned...

Welcome to the first third of the semester, as students enter their seventh week of the Spring semester, we all sort of fall into this funk. Winter is straggling on, despite what the groundhog said, and the cool winds of Maine make it bitter to be outside. This causes students to be stuck inside their rooms, dorms, apartments, and...

By: Kayley Weeks, Staff Writer This year, the Intercultural Student Engagement (ISE) Center has organized a variety of events for students to celebrate Black History Month. “Black History Month is about history and the future, and connecting the roots where we come from, to see where we are going. We need to recognize not only past injustices but past revelations and...

By: Asher Close, Staff Writer Elise Hanley is a junior studying biochemistry at USM. She is a Lead Resident Assistant (LRA) in Upton Hastings, and a TRIO Student Support Services peer mentor, a guidance figure helping students who struggle with getting acclimated to college. Upon arriving at USM, Elise, who likes to go by El, was a predetermined environmental studies major...

February 2021 marked the 57th year that the United States has celebrated American Heart Month.  Trivia Point: President Lyndon Johnson, who had heart disease, proclaimed it as such and although significant strides have been made since 1964, heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide. It is never too early to prevent heart disease...

By: Cullen McIntyre, Editor-in-Chief Representation matters, for everyone. This simple yet profound idea of representation and inclusion is exactly what sophomore Hussein Maow is passionate about. As the current Student Body Vice-President, political science and finance double-major and former Director of Racial Equity and Inclusion, Maow’s efforts on campus have been incredibly important. “I am able to advocate exactly what students...

In addition to our zoom workshops, support groups and individual counseling we are now offering an online mental health tool for the USM student community called SilverCloud. It is an online platform that is available to all University of Maine System students at no cost. It offers self-guided programs for anxiety, depression, stress, and resilience. Based on cognitive behavioral therapy...

Intramural and club sports have been apart of the fabric of the USM community for many years, and even through the midsts of COVID-19, it’s no different. Although the normal activities may have been modified, the long-lasting benefits it has on students remain.  At USM Intramural Sports were designed to provide an opportunity for students to participate in organized recreational...

By: Amelia Bodge, News Editor The University of Southern Maine’s Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Council (IDEC) has recently been offering $250 mini-grants. These grants will be given out to departments or student organizations who apply and wish to host university-related diversity and inclusion programming, conferences or workshop registrations, online/zoom programming, or other programs of that nature. All of the requests for the funding...