Bucksport Woman Top Graduate in UMaine Division
Contact: Joe Carr at (207) 581-3571
ORONO — Barbara Vittum of Bucksport has been selected as the graduating senior to represent the University of Maine Division of Lifelong Learning at UMaine’s Saturday, May 12 commencement. She will carry the division’s banner Alfond Arena at the beginning of the ceremony.
Vittum, who will receive a psychology degree on Saturday, plans to continue her UMaine education, pursuing a master’s degree in Public Administration, focusing on non-profit health care systems. She would like to work with cancer survivors. At UMaine, Vittum is a member of three honor societies: Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Psi Chi. She also earned a Presidential Pin, the Dawn Allenwood Award demonstrating the spirit of UMaine’s Onward Program, the Gerry Herlihy Perseverance Award, the Division of Lifelong Learning Outstanding Achievement Award and the Ryckman Psychology Award.
Vittum shares credit for her UMaine success with the staff at UMaine’s Onward Program, which helps prepare students for academic success, and with several professors.
“I have been heavily influenced by June Carter as my English teacher, Linda Yelland as my academic advisor, and Stephen Gilson and Liz Depoy in Disabilities and Interdisciplinary studies,” Vittum says. “These professors have gone out of their way to help, encourage, and inspire me “.
Vittum, who grew up in Ellsworth and has lived in Bucksport for 20 years, is the daughter of Kenneth and Eleanor Vittum of Ellsworth. She has friends and family members in several Penobscot and Hancock County communities.