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Starting College in Summer? One Student’s Guide to Enrolling at USM Off-Cycle

Starting at USM during summer session is more common than you might think — and one current student says it gave them a head start they did not expect. Keep reading for five tips from a student who has been there.

Class of ’26: Meet Najmo Ahmed, USM’s Student Commencement Speaker

Najmo Ahmed has a lot going on. She’s finishing her bachelor’s degree in social and behavioral sciences at the University of Southern Maine, interning at the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, and working toward a master’s in public health — all while preparing a commencement address her mother doesn’t even know about. Keep reading to hear how she got here, what drives her, and what she wants people to take away from her story.

Class of ’26: Where There’s a Will, There’s Deklin Fitzgerald

Last September, USM senior Deklin Fitzgerald stood in front of more than 700 people and told his story — and when he stepped offstage, strangers approached him one after another to say the same thing: “I feel seen.” Keep reading to find out how four years of saying yes to just about everything led him there.