By: Zoe Bernardi, Community Editor
How did USM student spend their summer break? Here are four students who shared what they did to fill their time.
Over the summer, USM student Alexis Riordan worked at Yogibo in Kittery. Riordan, a sophomore from South Berwick, is studying history education and psychology. She spent her days allowing people to test out various types of bean bags and bean bag related furniture. She was highly educated on the types and different products at Yogibo. When she wasn’t working, Riordan enjoyed spending time with her friends and family relaxing. One time while she was on the clock, Riordan and her co-workers planned an entire agenda for the upcoming work party. In order to convince her manager, they delivered the idea along with green tea frappe from Starbucks, to further allow them to go through with the party plans.
Also in her sophomore year, Gabby Hamm is a Biochem major with a Physics minor. She is from Southern Maine. Hamm was offered a USM internship that started in May. She and four other students were a part of a Quality Control Coloblaritory (QC2) lab project revolving around testing local beers from Maine breweries. After that, Hamm went to visit her family in Virginia and to attend her sister’s high school graduation. Hamm spent the majority of her July in Florida as she worked for a cosmetologist. She was on set as a makeup artist for the USA National Miss competition. Her family moved from Virginia to Maine when a family member got a job working in Scarborough for Optimum Imaging Diagnostic (OIDX). Hamm began her second summer internship working in the biochem field doing medical research. She will continue doing both internships this semester.
Steven Johnson, originally from Topsham, is entering his senior year studying Media Studies. Johnson made the move to Portland in July. Johnson split up his summer with multiple jobs. He worked at East End Community School, a YMCA day camp and OTTO pizza. When he wasn’t making pizzas, he enjoyed hiking mountains in New Hampshire and Millinocket. “One night in particular up in Millinocket was this blur of craziness,” Johnson reflected. “We were driving back to our Airbnb on this dirt road, an hour-long trek that felt like years going by. Our car was low on gas. There were potholes and dust everywhere, and trucks were zooming past us in our little Honda Civic. We were just trying to get back to our beds. That’s kind of what college feels like. It’s this wild ride with a start and end point, with all these unexpected complications. But if you’re with a good group of people, you’re enjoying the good things together and making the best of it.”
Sophomore Katherine Sucy from Topsham is currently undeclared. She had the travel bug this summer. Sucy began her summer on the USM honors trip to Iceland. She spent 10 days traveling through Reykjavik and the Reykjanes peninsula. In Iceland, Sucy enjoyed her relaxing day at the Blue Lagoon and seeing geysers and waterfalls. Later in the summer, Sucy traveled to Oslo, Norway, where she met up with her friend. She then went to Gothenburg, Sweden and then from there went to Copenhagen, Denmark. However, on her voyage home she got stuck in Zurich for 7 hours. After making it home safely from her trips, Sucy’s favorite memories were made in the cities of Reykjavik and Oslo.