"I grew up in Brunswick, Maine, and spent the summers at the beach and the winters playing in the snow. My education began with homeschooling, which lasted until high school. When we realized that I would need help on certain subjects, my mother reached out to Merrymeeting Adult Education to inquire about classes. Which eventually led to me taking the HiSET. After I graduated in 2018, I hadn’t expected to finish high school so soon. With various ideas of what I wanted to do for a career, but no real path, I worked with Paul Elisha and was recommended to the TechHire program.

I met with a representative and signed up for a Cyber Security Certification, and I began Classes at UMA. The program lasted three semesters overall. One of the semesters required an internship for credit and I was sent an opportunity from TechHire for IDEXX Laboratories. I interviewed and was accepted as an intern July 2019. I had my internship extended across multiple departments and in December 2020 I was hired as a full time employee working in IT as an Asset Management Coordinator. It took a lot of hard work and I had my doubts that things would work out as well as they did. It was difficult taking an internship for 40 hours a week while taking classes in the evening. I had a wonderful teacher at UMA who was willing to work with my schedule and my managers at IDEXX were also very understanding.

Through my internship I fell in love with working in IT at IDEXX. I work at a company that is making a difference in the world through scientific innovations. It is also a welcoming, positive, and collaborative environment. Before I found Merrymeeting I never imagined my future self as happy as I am now.

Looking back in 2022 (and my second year working from home), I am very thankful to Merrymeeting and to IDEXX for giving me the opportunities and resources I needed to learn and grow into a tech career in Maine."