Student clubs hit the road
Student life at SMCC isn’t limited to our campuses. Student clubs offer opportunities that allow students to broaden their horizons through travel and exploration.
Students who take part in SMCC’s many student organizations often travel to other towns and states for tours, conferences, museums, shows and other experiences.
Last month, members of the Art Club took a day trip to Boston, where they visited the Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum to see some of the world’s great works of art. (Shown in this photo at the Museum of Fine Arts are, in back row, Ryan Shaffer, Fine Arts faculty and club advisor Jeff Badger and Will Blair. In the front row are Jyllian Lizanecz, Kala Wentworth, Zeynep Yurtsever and Vanessa Poirier.)
Students with the Midcoast Campus’ Anime/Cosplay Club traveled to Another Anime Convention 2016 in Manchester, N.H., which featured panels, workshops, anime screenings, skits and performances to show off costumes, video games and more.
And 15 members of the Business Club got a chance to network and get involved when they spent an afternoon at Seacoast Adventure in Windham navigating aerial ropes courses, riding zip lines and having lunch.
Off-campus trips and outings are an important part of the educational experience, says Justin Cochran, president of SMCC’s Student Senate, which oversees clubs and organizations and provides funding for many activities. “It’s a fun thing a lot of clubs get to do,” he says.
Other upcoming travel opportunities include:
- Cosplay Club, Anime Club, Boffing Club. Members of these three clubs will be able to travel to Boston for the Anime Boston Convention from March 31-April 2.
- Artists Striving To End Poverty (ASTEP) will travel to Western Connecticut University from Jan. 31-Feb. 4 for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The festival each year features live performances and 200-plus workshops and panels of all sorts from on-stage performance and behind-the-scenes to specialized jobs and the recruitment processes.
- The Business Clubmakes a three-day trip each spring to New York City, where students visit Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange, Trump Tower, the Finance Museum and the Federal Reserve Bank as well as tourist sights.
- The Nursing Club organizes a medical mission trip to the east African nation of Zanzibar in the spring, where they evaluate patients and distribute medical and school supplies.
For more information on how you can get involved, contact the CeSIL office.
Students have a ball at masquerade
Sixteen SMCC students mixed pleasure with learning while taking part in a masquerade gala where they greeted guests while dressed to the nines, made connections and learned about history.
The festive event was held Oct. 29 at the Portland Marriott Sable Oaks and put on by Tate House Museum board of directors and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America in the State of Maine. SMCC Adjunct Professor Ralph Carmona, president of the Museum’s board of directors, said he invited the students so they could expand their horizons and skills.
The students greeted other guests, showed them to their tables and were placed at different tables for dinner so they could talk to other guests, tell them about their aspirations. They also learned about the Tate House from the people who involved with the museum.
The event provided students an opportunity to dress up and interact with people who are successful and knowledgeable in their fields, Carmona said. Students were given complimentary tickets to the $100-a-plate fundraiser.
“I’m willing to bet none of them have been to an event like this,” Carmona said.
Half of the 16 students came from Carmona’s political science and sociology courses, with the other half coming from SMCC’s English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) program.
One of those students, Clautel Buba, said it was “amazing to be part of such a memorable evening.”
“Not only did I enjoy the food, I also enjoyed meeting new people, learning about their lives, learning a little history about Maine, and dancing to the oldies,” he said.
3 inducted into SMCC Athletics Hall of Fame
Three former SMCC students who were standouts on the basketball court, the baseball diamond and the softball field are the latest inductees into the SMCC Athletics Hall of Fame.
Rick Disney, Kim (Hunt) Parent and Michael Worster (pictured above) were inducted Nov. 5 during the 11th annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony in the Ortiz Atrium. This year’s selections were:
- Kim (Hunt) Parent, softball, 2008-11. Kim was a two-time All-Conference selection and was YSCC Player of the Year in 2010. As a pitcher, she ranks first all-time in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched. As a batter, she ranks sixth in runs batted in and eighth in hits.
- Michael Worster, basketball, 2005-08. As captain of the team, Michael was a two-time YSCC All-Conference selection in 2007 and 2008 and earned All-American honors in 2007. He ranks ninth all-time in points scored and eighth in steals.
- Rick Disney, baseball, 1988-89. Rick ranks fifth all-time in earned run average among SMCC pitchers with more than 40 innings, and he accounted for 37 percent of the team’s wins in the years he played.
Midcoast students staying active
Midcoast students this fall are more involved than ever with new student organizations and plenty of student activities.
At least six student organizations are active on campus this semester, said Cejai Mann, a Human Services major who works as a representative on campus for the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership.
Those clubs include the Anime/Cosplay Club, the Gaming Club, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, the LGBT Club, the Book Club and the Student Support Group.
The Campus Activities Board has also organized several student activities, including an art show featuring art instructors’ works, a panel discussion focused on the upcoming election and a Halloween costume contest. Mann says students also recently made cards for residents of a local nursing home.