Last September, Deklin Fitzgerald stood in front of more than 700 people to tell his story. When he stepped offstage, strangers approached him one after another and said some version of the same thing: “I feel seen.” It was the kind of moment that’s stayed with him.
None of this happened overnight. It started, the way most things do for Deklin, with a will — and the patience to find a way. This May, he’ll graduate from the University of Southern Maine with a media studies degree, two minors, and four years’ worth of proof that the right attitude opens more doors than the right plan.
From Rockland, with a plan of his own
Before Deklin found his way to that stage, he was a kid from Rockland with one firm conviction: he was not going to the same college as his older brother.
It was less about his brother and more about himself — and what he could build if he started somewhere new. USM felt like exactly the right place to do that. When he started, his plan was to study journalism, but a meeting with his freshman year academic advisor quickly changed that — pointing him towards media studies instead.
From there, his path kept expanding. One interest led to another, one requirement pointed toward the next, and before long he’d added a public relations minor and a political science minor to the mix. His studies, though, were only one piece of a much bigger picture.
The art of saying yes
At any given point over the last four years, Deklin has been juggling two or three jobs, a full course load, and at least one thing he decided to pursue simply because he saw a chance and took it.
As a Mitchell Scholar — a merit-based award that helped make USM possible for him financially — Deklin had already seen firsthand what that kind of support could mean. So when he found out USM didn’t have a Mitchell Scholar ambassador, the next step seemed obvious: he asked to fill the role.
He didn’t come in with a polished plan. He tried hosting scholar events throughout this first year, but nobody showed up. He tried again the following year, with a friend this time. Still a flop. It wasn’t entirely surprising — without an ambassador for years, there wasn’t much holding the scholar community together at USM.
“I asked myself, how can we connect with our scholars at a school with so many commuter students?” said Deklin.
The answer, it turned out, was simple: free coffee. He pitched the idea of grab-and-go beverages at Husky Brew — a low-stakes, drop-in setup where scholars could stop by between classes, grab a drink on the program’s tab, and connect without it feeling like an event.
It worked. Where previous events had drawn no one, grab-and-go brought in over 25 scholars from USM’s 80-person scholar community in a single semester.
“This is my baby,” Deklin said. “I’m hopeful someone carries it on after I graduate.”
He brought that same energy to just about everything else he took on at USM. Early in his time here, he sought out Zach Boyce, USM’s senior multimedia producer — shooting photos at events when he could, staying connected, making himself known. For years it was informal and unpaid, until it wasn’t. When the student multimedia team came together his junior year, he was the first to join.
For his media studies capstone, Deklin identified Chaos — a crisis response canine and the only one of his kind in Maine — as his partner organization, working to build out their media presence and raise awareness for a program that serves people in some of their hardest moments. And when he wanted to photograph Ireland for professional development, he sought out a fellowship, put in the work, and received full funding. He was one of two inaugural recipients.
“I’ve learned to stop looking at what I can get out of something and start looking at what I can learn — the hard and soft skills,” he said. “Once I realized that, everything started to click.”
The common thread
For all the ground Deklin has covered over the last four years, there’s a common thread. Every role he’s taken on, every opportunity he’s pursued, comes back to the same instinct — wanting to better understand people, and find ways to help them.
Part of that, he’ll tell you, comes from growing up in the foster care system.
“I’ve seen firsthand how impactful the system is on children — what they lose, and also what they gain. Being able to understand what someone goes through, relate to them — I’ve learned that people just want to feel heard. When they feel heard, they open up more.”
Deklin Fitzgerald ’26
It’s why media studies, public relations, and political science all clicked for him, and why spending his evenings as a behavioral health professional at Connections for Kids — working one on one with children who are struggling and need consistent, reliable support — feels like a natural extension of everything else. Across his work, the throughline is clear: he shows up for people who need it.
That same thread is shaping his next steps. This spring, Deklin was accepted to the Muskie School of Public Service at USM — his sights are set on public policy, specifically around the foster care system. He wants to be in the room where legislation is written, using everything he’s learned about storytelling, people, and systems to get there.
Last September was the moment it all came together. When he stood in front of 700 people as the keynote speaker at the 2025 Mitchell Institute Gala and shared his story, he wasn’t just giving a speech. He was doing exactly what he’d spent four years preparing to do — making people feel seen. Afterward, scholars approached him one by one. “I feel seen,” they said. “I feel heard.”
“I didn’t do it for me,” said Deklin. “But after that, I realized I was impacting more people than I thought, that I can make a difference in a way I didn’t think I could.”
A degree in hand, and ready for whatever comes next
This May, Deklin will walk across the commencement stage and into his next chapter. He’ll continue his work as a behavioral health professional at Connections for Kids, take on a field manager role with the Fund for the Public Interest, and head into his first semester of graduate studies at the Muskie School of Public Service. He didn’t slow down once in four years. Why start now?
The only pause he’s willing to take is a moment to look back on his time at USM — and what it’s brought him.
“Connection,” he said. “If I’d gone anywhere else, I wouldn’t have met my friends here. I wouldn’t have joined the multimedia team. I wouldn’t have become a campus ambassador. There are so many opportunities and possibilities I’ve had because I’ve been at USM these last four years.”
That’s reflected in his advice for students who are just starting out.
“Always look for the positive,” he said. “Capitalize on every connection you make. Just because a door didn’t open the way you wanted at first doesn’t mean your path isn’t going to lead you somewhere good.”
Deklin came in with a will and a lot of patience. He’s leaving with proof that both paid off.
