Renee McManus

Millinocket, Maine

What has been your favorite class at COA? Why?
I really enjoyed taking Contemporary Culture of the Maine Organic Farmer. In the class we read books about the farming industry and about farmer's lives, and we went on field trips every week to interview organic farmers. It was a great mix of anthropology and agriculture. Plus, who doesn't love hanging out with chickens once a week?

What classes have you taken at COA?
Human Ecology Core Course
Marine Biology
Introduction to Guitar
Aesthetics of Violence
Biology I
Writing Seminar
Contemporary Culture of the Maine Organic Farmer
Ornithology
Literature Science & Spirituality
Anthropology of Health and Illness
Contemporary Culture and the Self
Graphic Design
Art of the Puppet
Satanic Verses
Introduction to Philosophy of the Mind
Maine Wood Workers
Cultural Ecology of Population Control
Fixing Food Systems

What is your dream occupation?
I'd love to do a combination of these things: 1. Help run a non-profit educational farm that works with disadvantaged children. 2. Open a flower shop/book store/cafe 3. Run a drag store that has rooms upon rooms of sequins.

Do you work on or off campus? If yes, where?
I work on campus in the library. I help with Interlibrary Loan (ILL).

What do you see yourself doing after COA?
I can see myself going into either Americorps or the Peace Corps for a few years after graduation, but eventually want to live and work on my own farm.

What country or state would you like to visit?
Svalbard. I've always wanted to sneak into the Global Seed Vault...

What is happiness to you?
Happiness is a work in progress.

What are your plans, if any, for your internship?
I'm actually applying for an internship right now at Green Chimneys. It's a non-profit educational farm in New York that works with disabled children. Basically, it is what I want to do for the rest of my life.

What are your ideas for your senior project?
Senior project? Oh good Lord! I haven't really thought much about that yet...

What is one of your favorite childhood memories?
One time when I was about five, my mother brought my older brother, sister, and myself to the grocery store. She put all of us in the cart because we had been whining. When we got into the store there was a display of bananas. My brother stood up in the cart (he was six) and started belting the "Day-O" song. Soon enough my sister joined in singing the chorus of  "Come mister tally man, tally me banana. Daylight come and me wanna go home," and I began to dance. Meanwhile my mother parked the cart in front of the bananas and stood back. When we were done, people started applauding and asking for an encore.

What is your favorite food to eat? What is your favorite thing to cook?
When I was younger, I went on a kick of only making, and eating, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My mom, in an attempt to diversify my diet, told me to add some other ingredients. I then became addicted to peanut butter, jelly, olive and pickle sandwiches. To this day they are still my favorite thing to eat.

What do you like to do when you're not doing school work?
I like to read, draw, climb things, go for walks, harass chipmunks, go on bike rides and a whole slew of other things.

What is your favorite color?
Red

What are your favorite flowers?
I enjoy lilies.

What is your favorite animal?
Foxes are fairly rad.

What came first, the chicken or the egg?
The turkey started the party off.

What is the motto you like to live by?
Sometimes you just have to pull down your pants and slide on the ice.

Why did you choose to come to COA?
I chose COA because I enjoyed that you didn't have to choose a major. Half of my friends elsewhere are forced to take classes they hate in order to graduate. The other half are thinking about switching their major. At COA there are requirements, but you can fill them in any way you so choose.

What do you like to study?
I love studying agriculture and anthropology. I'm also interested in performance art, like puppetry.

Who are your favorite writers? Poets?
Adam Rapp, Clive Barker, John Steinbeck and Langdon Smith

Who are your favorite artists? Musicians?
Sam Brown and Duke Ellington are both amazing.

Who is your favorite fictional hero?
I don't think Aqua Man gets enough credit.

What historical figure do you most admire?
Abraham Lincoln knew how to get things done.

Who is your hero today?
Jack Farrell. That kid has spunk.

What do you value most in your friends?
Honesty and loyalty...and they have to vibe with my weirdness.

What do people say is your most marked characteristic?
My sense of humor.

What talent do you wish you had?
I wish I could shoot laser beams out of my fingertips. Cooking would be so much easier.

What is your least favorite spice?
Does cilantro count as a spice?

Do you have anything cool or unique you would like to share?
I can fit into an average sized suitcase.