Jade McGuire: Education major passionate about travel, volunteering

This time last year, Jade McGuire was living aboard a cruise ship with 600 other college students from across the country as part of the University of Virginia’s Semester at Sea program that took her to more than a dozen countries spanning four continents.

McGuire, a fourth-year elementary education major and honors student at the University of Maine from Augusta, Maine, says the experience opened her eyes and changed her perspective on the world.

“I’ve told a lot of people since coming back from my Semester at Sea that I don’t view myself as an American citizen, I view myself as a world citizen. And that definitely shaped that,” McGuire says.

Between ports, McGuire took classes aboard the ship. Assignments often involved field trips in the various cities where they docked. While she took only electives, at least one of her courses was somewhat related to her major – a class looking at education systems around the globe.

“Being able to not only compare the education systems to each other, but to the United States was interesting,” she says. “In Morocco my field trip for that class was going to a public university in Morocco and getting to talk to the college students, getting their input on their education. And then when I was in Brazil, we went to some of the more poverty-stricken schools, and got to see what a school in Brazil in the favelas looks like.”

The Semester at Sea wasn’t the first time McGuire was able to travel outside Maine during her college experience. She’s also been involved in UMaine’s Alternative Breaks program. The student-led organization gives young people the opportunity to spend part of their school breaks volunteering throughout the United States. As a sophomore, McGuire went with Alternative Breaks to Denver, Colorado, where she volunteered at a children’s hospital.

“You have people from all walks of life in your group and all different majors, and having them come together and work together for a common good was just, it was amazing,” she says.

When school is in session, students with Alternative Breaks spend time working on issues or causes in Maine communities and on campus.

McGuire is also involved with Black Bear Mentors, working with local youngsters in grades 3–8. She says such programs have instilled a passion for serving others.

“I’ve always been into volunteering and done that. But I’ve had more opportunities to volunteer here, and to collaborate with other people to volunteer. So I think that’ll be something that’s lifelong for me,” she says.

McGuire is preparing to graduate in May, taking 18 credits this semester, including work on her Honors College thesis and the 100-hour placement for her elementary education major, which involves observing a mentor teacher at Glenburn Elementary School one day per week.

In January, she’s leading an Alternative Breaks trip to Washington, D.C., where she’ll volunteer with the Steinbruck Center, which works to end homelessness and hunger. She plans to take another 18 credits in the spring, when she’ll be doing her student teaching.

After graduation, she plans to teach, and would like to one day get her master’s in the education field.

The University of Maine has “gotten me prepared for where I’m going,” she says.

Tell me how you got involved with the Semester at Sea program?
A long time ago, when I was still in high school, I got a packet in the mail explaining what a semester at sea was and I thought it was the coolest idea. I always really wanted to study abroad. Seeing 14 different countries is a lot more exciting than just seeing one.

Why minor in mathematics?
I like math, and I’m good at it. So with the concentration you have to take 24 credits of whatever the subject is at the university, and math sounded like the most fun one for me to do. So, that’s what I went with.

Why UMaine?
Honestly, I picked UMaine because financially it made the most amount of sense for me. Looking at my other options, it was a difference of $70,000 in debt to go somewhere else. And my brother already went here and he liked it a lot. So I figured, who knows, maybe I’ll like it. I’ve made good friends here, and the programs I’ve been in have been great.

How would you describe the academic atmosphere at UMaine?
I think it’s different for me, because I am in the Honors College, so more is expected of us. And it’s interesting, too, because everybody in the Honors College has different majors. You see the different majors interacting and viewpoints from not only different walks of life, but different academic areas connecting.

Have you worked closely with a mentor, professor or role model who has made your UMaine experience better? If so, who and how?
Jane Wellman-Little has been absolutely fantastic. She was a teacher. She was a principal. So when she would teach us, she’d bring in her background knowledge, which just made it that much more real. You could ask her questions about things that might come up in the classroom and she would actually have experience (to share).

Describe UMaine in one word.
For me, I guess I’d say “community.” And that’s mostly because I’m involved in those types of things like Alternative Breaks and Black Bear Mentors, where we do come together as a community to make a difference.

What’s your most memorable UMaine moment?
I remember going to my first hockey game, and that was cool. I had never really been to a real hockey game, so actually going and seeing the atmosphere and see everybody knowing all the chants and everything to get pumped up for the game, it was cool.

What do you hope to do after graduation and how has UMaine helped you reach those goals?
My current goal is to go straight into teaching. And I’m still getting prepped for that. Next semester I’ll be student teaching, which will help build my confidence a lot.

I intend to come back to school eventually and get my Master’s in some form of education. But I’m not sure what yet. But my (Honors College) thesis is definitely helping with that, because when I apply for grad schools that will show that I can do grad school level work, which is good. So I’m very grateful for the opportunity to be in the Honors College that has been good for me. I know it’s going to do great things for me later in life.

What’s the most interesting engaging or helpful class you’ve taken at UMaine?
Children’s literature with Jane Wellman-Little.

What difference has UMaine made in your life?
It’s gotten me prepared for where I’m going after I graduate, mostly in the academic sense, but also socially, because I’ve always been into volunteering and done that. But I’ve had more opportunities to volunteer here, and to collaborate with other people to volunteer. So I think that’ll be something that’s lifelong for me. I don’t expect that I’ll ever stop volunteering.

And then being able to go on my Semester at Sea, that obviously has forever lasting impacts on me, not only just different perspectives from different worldviews, but friendships as well. I made friends with people all over the country and some in different countries and I’m connected with all of them on Facebook and seeing their posts and their perspectives on different things that are going on in the world, I’m still learning from them. So, that’s great.