Ellen Reidy ’22
Having just completed my undergraduate education last May, I am one of the younger ones in my class, and I am so thankful to have the opportunity and honor to be here. My hometown is an island community off of the coast of Maine called Vinalhaven, which has about 1,200 year-round residents. With a graduating senior class of 16 people, I was excited to move to New York for college and loved it there, but I missed Maine. While I was in New York, I became very interested in learning about different cultures, practices, and how people lived their lives all over the world, since I had come from somewhere so small.
Because of these interests, I love to travel and have been to more than 20 different countries through education and volunteering. I am the education and outreach coordinator for 91Ö±²¥ÊÓƵCOM’s Global Health Club, and we are gearing up for our summer medical mission trip to Panama this June. In Panama, I’ll be working with fellow OMS-I and OMS-II students, professors, alumni, and other doctors, all with the common goal of treating patients and educating them on preventative ways to care for themselves and their families. One of the reasons I chose to come to 91Ö±²¥ÊÓƵwas because of these amazing community and worldwide engagement opportunities. Also, since I am from such a small town, I am very interested in rural medicine, wilderness medicine, and primary care. At UNE, there are clubs for each of these, where I am able to share these interests with my classmates, professors, doctors, and 91Ö±²¥ÊÓƵalumni.