Balancing the rigorous academic load with enrichment opportunities outside the classroom is vital to student success during their time at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics. MSSM offers and encourages students to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities that include student led clubs, competitive clubs, athletics, and outdoor activities. Additionally, residential life staff plan multiple events and trips on a weekly basis. The dormitory is often the host location for many activities such as dances, movie nights, themed weekends, and student game shows such as Jeopardy and The Roommate Game. There are plenty of weekly opportunities to get off campus as well. Students can always find something to do beyond the classroom and need only to check the Activities Calendar to find out what’s going on that day!
Diverse student interests have led to a wide variety of active clubs and organizations on campus. Some clubs and organizations are academic in nature, some advocate for social causes, others are competition based, and a few are just for fun. All clubs and organizations are student led with a faculty or staff advisor. Most meet at least weekly, but schedules do vary. Many are open to participation from any student, but a few do have specific requirements for joining. Offerings change from year to year, but currently include: MSSM Club Brochure
The Residential Life team has a broad range of personal interests and love sharing their passions with the students. Staff seek out student suggestions to give new events and programs a try. They keep a close eye on local event calendars to offer off campus trips to concerts, lectures, art presentations, and other community events when available. Most activities are held during students’ free time on the weekends, but some events do take place during the school week.
On campus events range from big hype programs like “themed” weekends when activities are planned around a central theme (most recently, 80’s weekend) to smaller more intimate gatherings like “baking night” where students can bake treats with a member of the residential life team. Bake offs, tea nights, board game nights, ping pong tournaments, Sunday football, movie nights, and afternoon Just Dance marathons are not uncommon events to see on the calendar. The swimming pool, located in the academic building, is usually available for students’ to use on a regular basis. On campus outdoor pursuits include walking, hiking, snowshoeing, and cross country skiing on beautiful four season trails. Equipment for these activities is available to sign out from the residential life office.
Nearly every week there are opportunities for students to get off campus and explore the region. We take students into Presque Isle to run errands on a weekly bus trip and there are weekly van trips into Caribou for visits to local restaurants. Depending on the season, there are trips to the local roller/ice skating rinks, bowling alley, alpine ski mountain, wildlife refuge, state park, humane society, and more! Year to year, student interest waxes and wanes and the residential team adjusts the programs to meet students’ needs.
If there is student interest and it is a feasible event/program to tackle, we’ll give it a shot! Students are encouraged to try events, trips, and programs that might be a little outside their comfort zones initially and they sometimes find new things that they love!
Dorm Overview
MSSM’s dormitory is not just the hub of activities on campus, it is also home to the majority of the Residential Life team and is students’ home away from home. With separate wings for male and female students, common areas for study and play, offices for the Residential Life and Maintenance teams, a wing for the Health Services Department, and laundry facilities for students and staff it is a hub for all things pertaining to the residential life experience.
The dormitory features four student wings and students live on either male or female assigned wings. Wings are connected by large common areas within the dormitory and each wing also features two to three small common areas for residents to use. Wings feature individual style bathrooms to allow for privacy and cleanliness. Each wing has one or more residential life staff members, called Resident Instructors (RIs), who live on the wing with the students. The RI is responsible for providing a safe, homelike environment to students. They do this through planning specific wing events, wing meetings, mentoring, and serving as their wing residents’ point or go to person. Additionally, designated student leaders, called Resident Assistants (RAs) also live on the wings and work closely with their RIs to help meet students’ needs.
Student rooms are made up of primarily double and quad occupancy dorm rooms. The dormitory does have a few single occupancy rooms and depending on annual dormitory capacity, some quads are sometimes downgraded to triples. Generally, most first year students live in quads, but some are matched with returning student roommates in doubles as well. On average, student rooms allow for about ninety square feet for each student.
Furniture wise, each student is provided with a bed, a five drawer dresser, an armoire, and a desk with a chair. Double rooms have a small bed stand that is shared by roommates. Quads have two sets of bunks to optimize floor space. All beds are bunkable and their height easily adjusts to suit student’s preferences. Students are welcome to decorate their dorm spaces with plants, wall hangings, photos, area rugs, and more to make them homey and welcoming. Guidelines and expectations for decor are outlined in the MSSM Community Handbook.
In general, most students prefer to bunk their beds. This allows for a little more free floor space for visiting with friends or adding some extra furniture to their room (with approval from the Residential Life team).
MSSM’s dormitory has several common areas for student use. The upper lobby, lower lounge, and dorm gym are all large areas where students can gather to play games, exercise, study, or just hang out. The lower lounge and gym tend to be the host locations for monthly wing nights and other large scale campus events. Each residential wing of the dorm also features two or more small wing lounges that are primarily used for studying or quiet space. Each of these lounges is furnished with desks, tables, couches, and whiteboards. We have a community kitchen for student’s use. This is used for everything from cooking club, to friends gathering for dinner, to student birthday parties. It’s one of the most heavily used spaces in the dorm! In addition to the spaces for studies and fun, other common areas include laundry facilities for students and resident staff, music practice space, and student mailboxes for letters and many packages.
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