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The campus was quiet, and the hot summer air lay like a blanket over Unity College when Renee Adlesperger first laid her eyes on it.

The cheerful voice of the tour guide filled the silence as they made their way from building to building, mapping out the small, walkable community.

鈥淚 remember showing up and thinking: this is it. This is the place where I need to be,鈥� Adlesperger, a native Texan, said of the Maine campus. 鈥淚t was just in the way the college was set up, and how it was being talked about. Even though it鈥檚 a very different culture – climate! – it all felt so familiar to me. It was home.鈥�

From learning to canoe, to helping shelter dogs become more adoptable through basic training, to her time interning with marine mammals in Alaska and Mississippi, every day as a Unity College student was an adventure waiting to be had. Eventually her experiences brought her to Sea World San Antonio post-graduation, where she worked primarily with beluga whales. Adlesperger said that being able to care for the animals there, and really involve herself in the public education at the heart of their mission, was pretty much a childhood dream come true.

Recently she鈥檚 moved on to start work in Washington state at the Science Applications International Corporation, where her primary focus is on the U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program, known for its study of the military use of marine mammals. The Marine Mammal Program trains animals to perform tasks such as ship and harbor protection, mine detection and clearance, and equipment recovery. And while Adlesperger鈥檚 new job specifics are classified, her feeling of fulfillment is absolute.

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine being where I am today without having gone to Unity College. Not just because of my time in the classroom, but the relationships I formed outside,鈥� Adlesperger said. 鈥淯nity College is not a short term relationship. It鈥檚 something that will last me a lifetime. My life started at Unity, and I can鈥檛 be grateful enough for my experiences there.鈥�

Throughout her time at Unity, as Adlesperger got to know her classmates and professors, the college began to feel like 鈥渁 big family.鈥� She enjoyed learning from professionals that 鈥渉ave actually been in the field,鈥� and 鈥渁ren鈥檛 just regurgitating something they learned from a book.鈥� Hands-on activities filled her class schedule, and often brought her out into the larger community of Waldo County and Maine as a whole. She felt prepared entering her field, and looks forward to applying her skills in her new role.

鈥淣ot only is the college campus a family and a community, but the way the classes function, and the message they鈥檙e teaching, really involves us. It makes you feel you鈥檙e there to be a part of something bigger,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd you get this experience where you don鈥檛 just know it in your head 鈥� you know it in your hands.鈥�