Maine Perspective Front Page
Commencement 1999
When Two Graduations Are Better Than One
Among the highlights of Commencement are the graduations of twins:
- Being in college with a twin sibling is like "having a permanent friend with you." That's how the experience is described by biology majors Barbara and Jen Woodman of Centreville, Vir. Born in Bangor, the pair chose UMaine to be close to their grandparents and extended family living in the area. Their father, Robert, attended UMaine before entering the military. Barbara and Jen have been enrolled since 1994. They have played club volleyball for the past four years and for two years have worked as lab tech aides in the USDA's New England Plant, Soil and Water Laboratory on campus. Following graduation, both will take a year off and live in the Boston area. Then they are headed to graduate school.
- Chris and Ben Roeder of Brewer are chemical engineering majors. They chose chemical engineering for the many opportunities in the field. The Brewer High School graduates received Pulp and Paper Scholarships. For the past four years, they have taken classes together. The biggest advantage, they say, is in often learning twice as much. Chris and Ben first experienced living miles apart during the last two summers when Ben worked in an educational co-op in Pennsylvania. Upon graduation, Ben is headed to Pensacola where he has been hired as a process engineer for Champion International; Chris has a job as a process design engineer for Union Carbide in Charleston, W. Vir.
- Betsy and Jenn Ukeritis of Hagaman, N.Y., came to UMaine to study wildlife ecology. Both received Distinguished Scholar Awards. At UMaine, the pair took many of the same classes together until their junior year, when both participated in National Student Exchange - Betsy at the University of Montana and Jenn at South Dakota State University. For the past three years, both received Penobscot County Conservation Association Scholarships. Betsy is in the Honors Program. Jenn is the recipient of an Outdoor Writers Association Scholarship. Since coming to UMaine, Betsy and Jenn have been Student Environmental Educators, working with youngsters kindergarten to eighth grade. Both also are members of UMaine's Wildlife Society. They note that one of their most memorable moments at UMaine will always be of the Black Bears winning the 1999 NCAA Division I hockey championship. After graduation, Betsy is headed into the Peace Corps, then will pursue a career in wildlife ecology research. Jenn is headed to law school; she has been accepted at Pace University.