Often the entire family is involved in helping a student select a college. Parents offer support and ask challenging questions, all in hopes of guiding sons and daughters towards good choices. What does a parent think about these choices after a son or daughter has enrolled at the college? Or after the student has graduated from the school? We asked the parents of COA students and alumni to reflect on the value of a COA education in the lives of their daughters and sons.
After high school, Heather and Eben Albert-Knopp were admitted to prestigious colleges. But by their sophomore years, both became disenchanted for different reasons. Heather grew tired of the high-pressure environment, and Eben told his father that only a couple of professors at his ivy-league college truly challenged him. Eventually both siblings transferred to COA.
"We were a little concerned that this would just be taking the easy way out," says their mother Sharon Knopp. "But it turned out that both of them were much more challenged at COA. We could not believe how hard they worked and the incredibly thought-provoking papers they wrote because they were really stimulated and engaged in their learning."
Heather transferred to COA after a semester abroad in Costa Rica, where she discovered her passion for community work as she taught English and coordinated sea turtle research. She continued her explorations at COA, energized by hands-on learning experiences including an ecology class in which students worked with a wildlife biologist on a bear cub census.
COA also intrigued Eben, but he was reluctant at first to follow in his older sister's footsteps, says Sharon. His parents encouraged him to give it a try, and he soon found himself deeply engaged. "COA rekindled a love of learning for both of them," says Sharon. "And the professors are wonderful. They really care about the students."
Today, Heather is a consultant with Healthy Maine partnerships in Hancock County, work that has enabled her to hone diverse skills including grant writing and community organizing. She has a particular passion for working with local food systems. Eben is in law school in Vermont, where he is studying environmental law, a focus inspired by an internship he completed while at COA.
Enoch Albert and Sharon Knopp say COA's focus on human ecology has enabled their son and daughter to find their unique paths to rewarding, engaging work. "At first I thought, what do you do with a major in human ecology once you've graduated?" Enoch says. "But we've discovered that it's not just a narrow focus, it's actually a very broadening focus."
As alumni of a mid-sized university, John and Ramona Snell have seen how easily students can become almost invisible. "Students can get mediocre grades, coast through, and be nearly anonymous," John says. He adds that at COA, however, "you can't be anonymous."
The Snell's daughter, Carolyn, recently told her parents about finding herself in a "large" class at COA. "When I asked her how many students were in the class, she said 'seventeen', Ramona recalls, laughing. "So they decided to have an extra meeting of the class to make sure everyone had the chance to speak."
That's the kind of decision often made at the college, where students are deeply engaged in a community of learning. This environment has given Carolyn the opportunity to explore her many interests, which include literature, painting, and farming. She has edited publications including the student newspaper and Human Ecology essays, and has worked with many international students in the writing center. Carolyn is now combining her passions in her senior project: a series of oil portraits of Maine farmers.
After graduation, Carolyn plans to paint and farm. She and her husband, fellow COA student Victor Amarilla-Canete, will launch a new strawberry operation next spring at the Snell's family farm in southern Maine.
Ramona says the school continues to inspire the family both practically and philosophically. Carolyn hopes to adapt practices from the college's "no-waste" graduation in 2004 for the couple's wedding reception next spring. Her parents are planning to do the same for their annual Maine Maple Sunday celebration, a public pancake breakfast. "We're trying to reduce waste from paper and the plastic world," Ramona says. "That's something that's going to follow us around; the sense of how things might be done better."
Soon after she graduated from COA in 2003, Caitlin Unites joined the Peace Corps. She has been working to improve childhood nutrition in a village in Madagascar for the past two years. Her innovations include a school meals program and a community garden in which children grow some of their own food. Caitlin's father Dennis says that while she has always been community-minded, her time at COA deepened her confidence in her ability to engage in change-making work. "At a larger school she probably would have been just a student, but at COA she was a participant," Dennis says.
Caitlin transferred to COA after a year at a large university, which her father describes as "a very impersonal school where there wasn't a lot of help or academic counseling. "It was just the opposite at COA," he says. "There was much more community, and her advisor was a super guide throughout her education. That doesn't happen on the undergraduate level in many places."
Dennis says the college's small size gave Caitlin the chance to pursue her interests in the biological sciences in a more specific and stimulating way rather than in large, general science courses. He adds that the college's emphasis on writing allowed her to use and strengthen her skills in ways that might not have been possible elsewhere. "At a larger school, who can grade 500 essays?" he says.
As he reflects on his daughter's education at COA, Dennis uncovers a paradox. "At first glance, it's a small school with one major, but it really does offer a broad range of experiences for any student - and for Cait, COA has been a very positive experience. Even though it's small, it's not limiting."
Although her Wisconsin hometown is far from the sea, Hannah Hastings longed to study marine biology. Her parents Moira and Jeff wanted to support their daughter's passion as she investigated colleges. "We knew deep down that Hannah needed a school with depth and soul in its teaching," Moira says. "That's partly because of who she is and partly because she had spent her elementary and middle school years at a Waldorf school, where she was inspired to think and question, not just memorize and repeat."
On her first trip East, Hannah fell in love with Maine and with COA, particularly "the personal interest and genuine enthusiasm show by the teachers and staff," Moira says. She recalls that Hannah did, however, have two concerns: living so far from home and feeling somewhat intimidated by the caliber of students she met. "These were typical pre-college concerns, but real nonetheless," Moira says.
Today, Hannah is a sophomore who has more than once called her parents to tell them how much she loves her classes. She is flourishing in an environment that challenges her academically and supports her as she pursues and broadens her interests. "Hannah's self-confidence has grown over the past year," Moira says. "She has become more clear within herself about the direction in which she sees herself going; not a career choice per se, but an area of strong interest."
Moira and Jeff see COA's single major of human ecology as one of its greatest strengths because it gives students both a framework and the flexibility to explore, exposing them to new ideas they might not have otherwise encountered. "Because COA requires students to take classes in a variety of areas - and not huge, boring lecture style 'intor' classes - Hannah is now exploring her interests in social-political realms," Moira says. "We know that the education she's getting in how to think for herself, how to question, and how to really delve into a subject will serve her well no matter what career path she chooses."
COA didn't make Carin and Richard Feldman's shortlist of "name" schools when they first started researching colleges for their son, Justin. "It seemed too small, and with only one major of human ecology, it seemed to constricting," says Richard, a self-described "educational traditionalist." But when Justin spotted a catalogue at a friend's house, he was intrigued. And soon, so were his rather surprised parents.
"The more we learned about COA, the more we liked it," Richard says. "We learned that it was a high-quality school with a unique mission: to integrate knowledge from all academic disciplines and from personal experiences to improve the relationships between human beings and their social and natural communities."
Justin was accepted at almost every school on "the list." The deciding factor was his visit to COA, where his father says he encountered a "nurturing, almost communal atmosphere," interesting classes, an emphasis on experiential learning, and a philosophy that encourages students to explore their interests.
Now in his second year at COA, Justin is taking courses in documentary filmmaking and agroecology and completing an independent study project in which he is researching the relationship between Western psychology and Buddhism. Another of his passions is the outdoors: last summer Justin completed a National Outdoor Leadership Program (NOLS) in Alaska, for which he received COA credit.
Richard says he is confident Justin made the right choice of schools. He says, "Where else could he attend classes that have such a low student to faculty ratio, or join a small community that includes so many international students, or get together with a few friends to work on an organic farm in Costa Rica during a trimester break?"
Looking back on his son's experiences, the "educational traditionalist" has some advice for parents whose children are considering COA. "If your student is bright, idealistic, curious, socially conscious, and courageous enough to explore his or her interests and talents, then consider looking into this little gem of a college."
April Mauro wanted to attend a small college where she would know most of her classmates by first name as she completed coursework for pre-veterinary studies. Her father Joseph says COA provided the ideal environment as well as unique opportunities to learn and explore.
On several occasions, April worked with professors to create undergraduate classes that would meet requirements for admission to veterinary school. Her COA experience, however, included much more than academics. April worked with monkeys at the Eco-tarium in Worcester, Massachusetts, and during her junior year decided she wanted to travel to Africa. "She didn't just want to go as a tourist," Joseph says. April scouted around until she found a summer research project in Kenya's Tsavo Game Park, where she worked with staff on elephant research.
The Mauro'ss were initially concerned about the college's educational approach given April's pursuit of a traditional field like medicine. Today, Joseph says his daughter's COA education has served her well. "We feel it may have worked to her advantage in getting into veterinary school, as she had a different background and degree from the pure sciences," he says.
April is now in her second year of veterinary school at the University of Wisconsin, where she is pursuing her childhood dream of becoming a large-animal veterinarian. Her father says that in additional to helping April meet her academic goals, COA also has given her the chance to stretch and grow. "Her confidence has increased, as has her willingness and ability to speak out publicly," Joseph says. "She has matured and now has a world view."
