RUMFORD — What do two Mountain Valley High School students do to learn about marine science? Since all science electives have been removed, they look for alternatives. Juniors Logan Benedix and Ed Vidito found a day at University of Maine at Orono met their needs.

Their journey began in Lorraine Tanguay’s class called Personal Life Choices.

Vidito said, “Mrs. Tanguay teaches basic cooking, finances and how to get a job. She wanted us to take personality tests for suggestions for jobs.”

Benedix added, “The course is about setting up your life. Part of the class is to do a job shadow on what you want to do after high school.”

Like most journeys, the students encountered a few bumps along the way.

“We called around Maine to see places that we could job shadow but no one accepted us,” Benedix said. “Mr. Baker got us talking to Orono.”

Science teacher Ken Baker made the contact with the marine science program at Orono. He set up the day and drove the young men to campus.

They met with Susanne Thibodeau, administrative coordinator, who introduced them to marine sciences student David Noyes.

Vidito said, “He took us to the ARC (Aquatic Research Center). We saw DNA extraction of sea lice. They study sea lice to see how they affected the salmon for the salmon industry. Then we went to a lab with razor clams. They were researching how they could mass cultivate the clams.”

Benedix added, “We talked to a bunch of professors that all gave us a lot of information.”

At the end of their tour, the students reflected on their learning and future plans.

Benedix said, “I learned so many things. We got loaded with information. It’s not marine biology; it’s marine science and it’s made of many subjects to go into.”

“I still want to do marine science,” Vidito concluded, “I have to figure out what I want to do. There are a lot of possibilities for different areas of marine science.”

Benedix said, “It helped me look into the different paths I can take as a marine biologist. It probably strengthened how I view marine biology. They really sold us on Orono and it has become one of my choices for a college, but I’m still doing some research.”