The last of Sandi Wood’s 10 children are out of the house.

Wood helped her 18-year-old daughter, Melissa, move into Mallett Hall on the University of Maine at Farmington campus Saturday morning. 

“I am the baby of the family,” said Melissa Wood, one of the nine children adopted by Sandi and David Wood. They have one biological son living in China and an adopted daughter living in Alaska.

“Living in Alaska has its ups and downs,” said Kristen Kitts as she helped her younger sister move into her co-ed residence hall.

Melissa graduated from Lisbon High School in June and chose UMF to study early childhood education.

“I’m excited. I am ready to start my new adventure,” Wood said. 

The university welcomed the incoming class of 525 freshman students with volunteer upperclass students wearing green T-shirts with “Ask Me” written on the back.

Members of the orientation staff wore the shirts and helped carry student belongings up flights of stairs and into their dorm rooms.

“We try to make it much less stressful,” said volunteer Tessa Walsh, a junior elementary education major. 

“It’s terrifying coming in here as a freshman,” Walsh said. “So we are here to help as much as we can.” 

Sandi Wood had mixed feelings about the last of her 10 children moving out on her own.

“It’s a very emotional day,” she said. 

Sydney Booth, second from right, gets help from her aunt, Debbie Walton, and a volunteer member of the orientation staff while moving into her residence hall at the University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday morning. Booth, a goalie for the UMF women’s lacrosse team, is a graduate of Towson High School near Baltimore. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Sandi Wood of Lisbon and her daughter, Melissa, look over a campus map while moving Melissa’s belongings into her Mallett Hall dorm room at the University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday morning. Wood graduated from Lisbon High School and is a freshman early childhood education major at UMF. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

Molly Ragan, 8, of Anson helps her brother, Sam Urszinyi, move into his residence hall at the University of Maine at Farmington on Saturday. (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

University of Maine at Farmington junior Tessa Walsh helps freshmen move into Purington Hall on Saturday morning. Walsh is a volunteer member of the orientation staff and made herself available to answer any questions a first-year student may have had.  (Daryn Slover/Sun Journal)

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