First Year Residency Interview

Matt Finer, a current Freshman at the University of Maine, Orono discussed many first year resident opinions, experiences, and how he became a “Black Bear” in an interview with me on February 9, 2010. The major topics we discussed in the interview dealt with family, grades, sports, and dorm life.
Mr. Finer applied to four schools for his education this fall and was respectively accepted by two. The second school he got accepted to besides the University of Maine was Penn State in Pennsylvania. There were a few reasons he chose not to go to Penn State over the University of Maine but the biggest reason was the size of the school. Mr. Finer felt that Penn State was too big (population wise) while the University of Maine was the “right size for him.” One of the other major reasons he came here was because his brother goes to school here. However, they do not live together. Matt lives in Gannett Hall while his brother, Andrew, lives in the Senior Apartments.
Gannett Hall has many positives and negatives to it for Mr. Finer. He is content living with his roommate and often calls him his “brother”. They get along most of the time and are often seen together outside of Gannett. However, Mr. Finer does not appreciate some of the things his roommate does. He said, “I don’t like cleaning up all his stuff but we’re great friends.” Another thing Matt does not like about “Dorm Life” is how dirty the bathrooms get on weekends. Since they only get cleaned Monday through Friday, Saturdays and Sundays can get quite dirty.
School is very important to Matt and his family. Both of his parents have Bachelor Degrees and his brother, as stated before, is close to getting his own. Matt’s current major is Financial Economics; he said, “I enjoy working with numbers and money.” He has been enjoying the extra challenges and hard work that college has brought him. Although his Grade Point Average is lower in University, he feels that he has learned a lot more already this year than he did in previous years in high school.
Along with school, Matt plays a variety of sports at the University of Maine. He plays Club Football and Intramural Football, Basketball, and Floor Hockey. Matt said, “Sports keep me active and physically fit.” If he ever has any time to relax and just sit back, he plays NHL 10 or Madden on XBOX 360.
All in all, Mr. Finer is enjoying the University of Maine and his first year as a resident here. There is not too much he would change about his daily life and finds the University of Maine a “nice campus“. He also said that he feels “safe” here and does not plan on transferring to a different school any time in the near future. To conclude the interview, Matt finished by saying, “It’s cool being a Black Bear.”

Jordan Swerid
February 10, 2010