NSE students complete exchange program

16 years ago

    PRESQUE ISLE – Two business students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle recently spent a year at a Florida university earning their certification in hospitality management – at UMPI tuition rates – thanks to the University’s National Student Exchange Program.

ImagePhoto courtesy of UMPI
    Two students recently spent a year in Florida as part of the National Student Exchange Program. Nicole Bossie and Brandi Hill earned their certification in hospitality management. From left: Marjorie McNamara, UMPI’s NSE coordinator, presenting the certificates to Bossie and Hill.

    The two students, Nicole Bossie of Caribou and Brandi Hill of Houlton, spent the 2007-2008 academic year at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee campus, working with faculty who specialize in hotel and restaurant management and taking part in intensive internships at high-end Florida resorts. At the end of their year away from home, Bossie earned a certificate in restaurant management; Hill, a certificate in hotel management.
    “Not only did they receive their certificates, but the classes they took in Florida are being transferred back to UMPI and applied toward their degrees in business,” Marjorie McNamara, UMPI’s NSE program coordinator, said. “It was just an amazing opportunity for Nicole and Brandi and I think it’s so important that other students know that they can take advantage of the same opportunities while attending the University of Maine at Presque Isle.”
    The University’s National Student Exchange Program allows students to study at hundreds of colleges and universities across the U.S. for a semester or a year, focusing on a subject area that UMPI may not offer while paying in-state tuition rates or sometimes even at the rate they would pay to attend UMPI.
    Bossie said it was an experience she won’t ever forget.
    “The National Student Exchange Program was the best experience of my life. I had the opportunity to achieve many things, meet lifelong friends and grow as an individual,” Bossie said. “If I didn’t have NSE, I never would have been able to afford getting an experience like this.”
    When Bossie and Hill decided they wanted to take part in the NSE Program – Hill heard about it during her sophomore year from her roommate who also went on a student exchange – they learned that the hospitality program they wanted to attend at the USF campus required that they complete a list of pre-requisites. The students and UMPI officials sprang into action to make sure they could go on their exchange. McNamara ensured they completed the proper pre-requisite courses and Business Professor Clare Exner worked with USF officials to make sure that the courses they took in Florida would transfer back to UMPI so Bossie and Hill could earn both their hospitality certifications in Florida and their business degrees at UMPI. The two were able to go on their exchange during their junior year.
    Now back in Maine, the two say they wouldn’t trade their experiences for the world, but Hill said they also have a new-found appreciation.
    “The experience was amazing, but it really made me appreciate home, and you don’t know what that means until you experience it,” Hill said. “It’s the atmosphere. It’s the people. It was a real eye opener. I found where my place was.”