Like thousands of other students who are attending Southern Maine Community College this fall, Maeve Shea is excited about the prospects that lie ahead.

An incoming freshman, Maeve is looking forward to making new friends, getting involved in campus activities and exploring her passion for learning. For those straight out of high school or a year or two removed, college is an opportunity to learn more about yourself and prove that you can be the responsible adult you were raised to be.

Fall Semester classes start Aug. 29, but in Maeve’s case, she was so ready to launch her college career that she enrolled in a summer course to get the ball rolling early. Maeve, who’s 19, took a year off after high school and was itching to get into SMCC’s learning environment and learn the ins and outs of college life.

Maeve was drawn to SMCC because we’re a fraction of the cost of four-year colleges and we’re close to her family’s home in Brunswick. Beyond that, she appreciates that faculty and staff understand that students each have their own reasons for coming to SMCC.

“There’s an attitude at SMCC that they’re aware that people are on different paths,” Maeve says. “And they’re OK with everybody doing things in an individualist way. Which is exactly what I need.”

Coming to college for the first time is a major stepping stone in a person’s life journey. For many, it’s a time when they leave childhood behind and enter adulthood. For all, it’s a belief that a college education leads to a bright future.

It’s not just students fresh from high school who come to SMCC, of course. We have a diverse student body at our Midcoast Campus in Brunswick, people of all ages from all walks of life.

Our staff recently created a Diversity Wall inside our L.L.Bean Learning Commons, where new students were invited during orientation sessions to write one thing about themselves they wanted to share with others. Dozens of students have written their thoughts on index cards that are attached to cardboard display boards.

The wall provides a glimpse at the wide range of students we attract. Here are a few examples of what students have written:

• “I am beginning my third career: business, law, nursing”

• “I am a working mom of 3 kids returning to school after 20 years”

• “I used to oversee sales operations in 40 African countries for a major computer company”

• “I am excited to go back to school for something I am passionate about”

• “I want to change my working career life”

• “My daughter and I are starting college at the same time”

• “Life is a gift”

For Maeve Shea, she confident she’s chosen the right place to begin her college career. “It’s a perfect fit for me.”

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Ronald G. Cantor is the president of Southern Maine Community College.