Meet Jo

This persona is a fictional profile of a UMaine student. It was created using data to reflect the challenges, successes, and overall experiences of some of our students.

Young white women with long brown wavy hair and brown eyes outlined with a black liner looking at the camera with a slight head tilt

Age: 29 years old

Work: Looking for a job on campus because her program offers no sources of funding for the summer. As an international student, Jo can only work on campus and she is not eligible for work-study positions. This is hard because she can’t afford to go home for the summer.

Major: Doctoral student in Environmental History

Family: Single, oldest of two siblings and 4 half-siblings

Challenge: Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), English learner, Economically challenged, Culture Shock, No family support, Grief

Languages spoken: Flemish, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, English, Wolof

Location: Orono, ME

Where is home? Gent, Belgium

Pronouns: she/her

Accessibility accommodations: Electronic calendar and reminders, Text to speech applications

Jo was born in Belgium from a German mother and Belgian father. Her parents got divorced when she were very young and she lived primarily with her mother and step father ever since. She has been estranged from her family for the past ten years with the exception of one brother. Jo had the opportunity to come to the U.S. through an exchange program while working towards her master’s degree and decided to come back for her doctoral degree.

“I don’t understand why people put so much text on their slides and assume we can read something on screen and listen to something else entirely. Instead of supporting the lecture, the slides distract me and I end up spacing out and missing both the lecture and the point of the slides.”

“In other countries, international students can work outside of the university, but in the U.S. it is forbidden. Without family support and without a job over the summer, I have to cut down from two meals a day to only one small meal. I don’t want to work off the books because I could loose my VISA over this, so summers and the beginning of the fall semester are always very hard.”

“I lost my grandmother last months but my brother didn’t tell me until this past weekend because he knew I couldn’t afford to come home for the funeral. It’s been hard. She was like a mother to me. I wasn’t able to do my work for this week and I need to ask for an extension but my professors are very strict in their syllabus about turning work in on time. I just need a break.”

“In one of my classes, we have regular meetings on Zoom with remote guest speakers and we have to keep our cameras on at all times, but every little movement as well as the shuffling of people on screen is so distracting. If I look down, it looks like I am not paying attention but forcing me to stare at the screen is what causes me to be distracted.”

  1. Be mindful of the cognitive load when designing lecture slides
  2. Allowing extensions or flexible deadlines and making sure that students know how to make the request when needed
  3. Make sure students know that their instructor understands the complexity of their lives
  4. Allow students to turn their camera off on Zoom or other web conferencing platforms
  5. Share slides with students after class

Many more students can benefit from these teaching strategies. Learn more about who benefits from these strategies.

“The events organized by the Office of International Programs helped me meet people when I arrived and it made my first few weeks navigating the university a lot better!”

“I am my department’s graduate students representative at the Graduate Student Government and that has helped me meet students from different departments and learn about trainings, social events and other opportunities for grad students on and off-campus.”

Explore resources and training sessions offered by CITL by visiting the Events and Programs section of the CITL website