Transcript

McKenna Chappell:

It makes me happy to be here because I feel like being so far away from home, I didn’t know if anywhere else would feel so comfortable, but Maine is just a life spent outdoors with people I love. So many opportunities to do fun things and meet new people, so it’s just wholesome.

Hi everyone, my name is McKenna Chappell. I am studying Parks, Recreation, and Tourism with a minor in Studio Art. I’m from Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and this is my life in the pines.

Oh gosh!

I chose to go to Maine because I had grown up hearing my mom say, “I want to go to Maine,” but she had never chosen to go and so I wanted to find a new place to explore. UMaine was the only school I found with the Parks, Recreation, and Tourism degree, and that’s something I’m so passionate about is being outdoors, so I chose to go here, and that also gave the opportunity for her to come and visit me, especially in the fall with all of the fall foliage. It’s so beautiful.

So obviously I’d never been here before I came here and I didn’t know anyone, but these two behind me I actually met the first day I got here and have remained my best friends since, so the community here is so welcoming and kind.

Since joining UMaine, I’ve tried out several clubs. I think I’ve tried about like seven or eight and all of them have been so fun. At this time, I’m enjoying rock climbing the most.

A typical day for me, maybe I have a lecture in the morning, but then I’ll go to my art class where we get to be in the studio creating what we want to, and then spend like three hours out in the forest looking at trees.

I just started teaching swim lessons at the Rec Center and it’s a way to connect with kids throughout the week. It’s like my serotonin boost and it’s also really what I’m interested in doing in my future. I’m taking an environmental interpretation class where we’re learning about how to teach kids outdoors, and I think I can definitely see myself doing that in my future as well.

Growing up in Lake Tahoe, I was surrounded by a bunch of outdoor opportunities and I feel like the happiest I am is in the outdoors, so I wanted to do what I can to teach people about nature but also protect it for the future.

All my professors have, I feel like, gone the extra mile to help all of us do what we can and find a career that we love. Going to UMaine, I feel that I found opportunities that I don’t think I could find elsewhere.

I’m working on a cardboard relief project right now for my 3D Design class and I’m doing a mosaic on a heart based off the quote, “We are all a mosaic of everything we’ve ever loved.” And I’m doing it through topographic lines just to incorporate that outdoor part of it. With the art studios, if you’re enrolled in an art class, you can come in at any time of the day. They give you a code, which is so cool because it’s just such a peaceful place to be.

So my dream career would be to work in Yosemite National Park or honestly, any national park where I can create art and teach people how to make that art and then eventually sell it. And so I’m incorporating both my adventurous and creative side.

I mean, being in Orono, it’s so nice because you’re only an hour from Baxter State Park where you can do this amazing hiking, but also only an hour from the ocean, so you get the best of both worlds. I feel like there’s so many layers to Maine that you wouldn’t know of unless you come and travel here.

I feel like leaving UMaine is going to be so bittersweet because I feel very prepared from being here. I feel ready to go, but I’m also not ready to leave it behind because it’s just such a magical place.

I’m gonna miss doing cool things like this. Like what? Who else is doing this?

At the end of every semester, I’ve been making these semester recap videos. I can show you.