{"id":4925,"date":"2017-10-11T09:50:03","date_gmt":"2017-10-11T13:50:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=4925"},"modified":"2025-08-16T18:00:42","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T22:00:42","slug":"celebrating-a-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2017\/10\/11\/celebrating-a-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating a New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the start of every new academic year, the University of Maine at Presque Isle holds a gathering to welcome all students to the campus. This is called \u201cconvocation\u201d and it is filled with music, excited students and words of wisdom and encouragement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jason Johnston, Barb Blackstone and Vanessa Pearson opened up the event with some light-hearted joking around. After everyone sang the UMPI Fight Song, Pearson introduced President Ray Rice, including some interesting (and amusing) facts about him. \u201cHe\u2019s a big movie buff, and quotes lines from movies ALL. THE. TIME,\u201d Pearson joked. Rice then took the stage amid smiles all around.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Rice spoke to all the students and offered them encouragement. But he addressed the incoming class in a particular way. \u201cYou are the last Millennials to enter college,\u201d Rice said. He spoke of their importance and what lies ahead of them. \u201cYou are, in short, the trust of our future,\u201d Rice said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0One of the highlights of the event was Krista Lamont, recipient of this year\u2019s Graduate of the Last Decade award. She is an educator from New Brunswick and is an advocate for children in need and in difficult circumstances. She talked about graduating from UMPI and her struggles in finding a job in her field. She eventually decided to travel abroad and teach, as far as China. \u201cI was young, adventurous and needed a change,\u201d Lamont said. She also talked about working as a substitute teacher before finding her passion in her current field. She now works with needy children in her community. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Lamont concluded with some uplifting words for the students in the room. \u201cEven the smallest of opportunities can lead to big changes,\u201d she said, adding, \u201cAll of your hard work will pay off.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The new students were then inducted, receiving their \u201cWings\u201d T-shirts and cheered on by everyone in the room. After, senior student Matt Theriault gave some good advice from a student\u2019s perspective. He spoke about the support from the campus and how there was always someone to help. \u201cIf you guys reach out, we won\u2019t let you fall,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Convocation drew to a close with a barbecue to welcome students (new and returning) to the campus. Because of the rainy weather, the barbecue took place in Gentile Hall gym. But despite the rain, everyone was in good spirits. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This event was a way for the campus to show support for incoming and returning students alike. UMPI is a family that truly cares about its members, and it wants its students to enter the new school year with excitement and confidence.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At the start of every new academic year, the University of Maine at Presque Isle holds a gathering to welcome all students to the campus. This is called \u201cconvocation\u201d and it is filled with music, excited students and words of wisdom and encouragement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4925","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archives","et-doesnt-have-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4925","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/205"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4925"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4925\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8800,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4925\/revisions\/8800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4925"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4925"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4925"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}