{"id":7494,"date":"2023-04-05T09:48:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T13:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/?p=7494"},"modified":"2025-08-13T19:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T23:54:17","slug":"a-professors-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/2023\/04\/05\/a-professors-journey\/","title":{"rendered":"A Professor\u2019s Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

     Dr. Jacqui Lowman is a professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. But they are unlike any other professor you may have met. This difference is not because of the wheelchair they use daily. Or because of their two service dogs, Saint and Dusty. Or because of their use of the plural pronouns –we, us, and our– which they use to include their extension of themselves: Saint and Dusty. Dr. J is unique because of their positive outlook on life and determination to fix what is not right. \u201cWe’re really good at encouraging people. We’re really good at helping people believe in themselves. And so that’s the thing we do,\u201d Dr. J said. For a long time, Dr. J\u2019s goal was to teach their students to achieve great things. Later on, the goals grew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

     \u201cWe teach writing and speaking and that was always easy until we couldn’t talk anymore,\u201d they said. In 2012, Dr. J experienced an abdominal aortic aneurysm. \u201cThat should have killed us and did not. And we lost our ability to speak, and we survived,\u201d they said. Dr. J didn\u2019t just survive but they also made a full recovery. \u201cThat was an incredible gift that was like having a second chance at life,\u201d Dr. J said. This was a second chance that Dr. J was not planning to let go to waste. \u201cAlthough we taught, it wasn’t enough. We needed to do something else,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Dr. J realized through their students that many people created false limitations for themselves. What was easy for Dr. J \u2013such as schoolwork– seemed impossible to some students. Dr. J decided they needed to do something that was challenging for themselves to show their students that challenges should not be feared. This was the start of Dr. J\u2019s organization BEYOND LIMITS: Awaken Your Potential (http:\/\/beyondlimitsawaken.org\/). \u201cIt started in 2014 \u2013not because we couldn\u2019t walk or because of the abdominal aortic aneurysm\u2014 but we got the idea from our students,\u201d Dr. J said. The organization BEYOND LIMITS had become a federally recognized nonprofit. Dr. J\u2019s organization is used to inspire individuals to the possibilities beyond their perceived limits. \u201cAnd at first, it was going to be called \u2018No Limits.\u2019 Then we decided on BEYOND LIMITS. Because people do have limits, but people can go beyond them,\u201d Dr. J said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Dr. J teaches people to go beyond their limits by example. \u201cSo, we thought we should do some things that are not easy for someone who is a paraplegic. At first, we learned how to ski. In 2015, we were part of a group and we climbed Katahdin. And then we hiked part of the Appalachian Trail,\u201d Dr. J said. \u201cBut we had to do it with a big group of people. And people would see the team. And they’d be like, \u2018Oh, and they’re taking care of you.\u2019\u201d But that wasn\u2019t the point that Dr. J wanted people to get out of reading about their journeys. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Dr. J\u2019s new goal was to prove that there is a way to do anything and travel anywhere. \u201cIn 2019, we drove to a conference that was in Denver and then we went from there to the West Coast. We went to Washington and Oregon and then we came back through Canada,\u201d Dr. J said. Their time spent in Canada was a big eye-opener. \u201cThe world is really not accessible, and the United States has the Americans with Disabilities Act. But even in the U.S., there’s a lot that’s not accessible, let alone in a foreign country,\u201d Dr. J said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

     Dr. J decided that they would travel back to Canada and note places that they experienced. \u201cWe thought we should spend more time in Canada. And we should really check it out,\u201d Dr. J said. In 2019, after Dr. J discussed with her sister their plans to travel to Denver, the goal had increased and the planning had started. \u201cShe said sarcastically, \u2018While you’re at it, you might as well go to Alaska.\u2019 We thought what a great idea,\u201d Dr. J said.  Dr. J started to plan out how they would drive from Maine to Alaska and back again. \u201cIt’s doable to do it. It\u2019s going to take a long time but we can do it,\u201d Dr. J said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     There was much planning that needed to be done. \u201cThere was lots and lots and lots of planning because we had to find accessible lodging, which is really challenging. And then where would we get gas? Where would be our rest areas, food stops, and all of these different things?\u201d Dr. J asked. Because so many of these aspects would not be accessible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Dr. J received some help during the planning process from Abi Davis, who attended UMPI as a student. For Abi this was a learning experience. \u201cIt was the spring before I started my senior year. Dr. J and I started talking about possibilities for my practicum. I didn’t really have any ideas. And Dr. J introduced the idea of potentially helping plan the trip to Alaska, and I found that intriguing,\u201d Abi said. Nowadays, Abi specializes in this kind of work for her academics in grad school. \u201cIt helped me narrow my interests–and deepen my passions–academically and professionally. Like in grad school right now, I don’t know that had I chosen a different program at UMPI or had I chosen even a different practicum project, I don’t know that I’d be in the program that I am in now,\u201d Abi said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     Dr. J\u2019s way of teaching is unique, but their lessons are lifelong. Dr. J\u2019s classes are not for the faint of heart. \u201cI wore many interchangeable hats throughout the two semesters that the planning took place. So, my roles included: researcher planning and sorting out logistics, as well as conducting research for answers when necessary. And we couldn’t find the answers easily online. It was very heavy on the research,\u201d Abi said. \u201cIt was difficult in the sense that it took a lot of very careful work, and I had to be very diligent at the beginning of each semester that I was working on these projects.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     For Dr. J, their work is far from over despite having met their goal to travel to Alaska. \u201cYour job as a teacher never truly ends. Most people are good and most people are not trying to discriminate. But people don’t really know what \u2018accessible\u2019 means. They don’t really understand all the aspects of it. So, let’s teach people,\u201d Dr. J said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
Dr. J., Saint, and Dusty at the Top of the Israel Asper Tower of Hope, Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

     Dr. Jacqui Lowman is a professor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle. But they are unlike any other professor you may have met. This difference is not because of the wheelchair they use daily. Or because of their two service dogs, Saint and Dusty. Or because of their use of the plural pronouns […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"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-7494","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\/7494","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\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8076,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7494\/revisions\/8076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.umpi.edu\/utimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}