Aspirations Lab: The Man Behind It by Rebekah Fleck and Jasmine Roy

11/7/13

“This is a great opportunity not only for the students, but for me as well,” Sean Merz Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School’s current Aspirations Lab coordinator says, “It’s good to be back home and helping students the way I was helped."

Merz is the first person to work at the Aspirations Lab who is a graduate of OHCHS. This is Merz’s first year experiencing the job and he isn’t afraid to admit that he’s a little overwhelmed. Merz said, “I am definitely out of my comfort zone, but I am excited to help all of the students.” 

Not too long ago, Merz was a student himself. He graduated from OHCHS in 2009, having been born in Norway and living in South Paris for the rest of his childhood years. Merz attended Colby College in Waterville, Maine, where he majored in Mathematics and minored in Economics. Merz says that his hope is to help seniors with applications for a 2 or 4 year college, the military, or just plans to be successful after high school. 

There wasn’t an Aspirations Lab when Merz attended Oxford Hills, so the idea of it is new for him. Being fresh out of college, Merz isn’t necessarily sure where he’s going to be in the next  5 or 10 years, so as he is doing this job he is also using it to help himself find out what he wants to do. He says, “I didn’t know what I wanted to do in High School, and I still don’t, so I am using this opportunity to help figure out what my next steps are.”  

Maureen Howard, who is the the Director of the Oxford Hills Community Education Exchange, started the Aspirations Lab. After the first year, Howard wrote grants to FAME (Financial Authority of Maine). FAME funds a person to be there five days a week. This is FAME’s last year of funding the program, so they are going to have to find someone else to fund it for next year. 

There have been 4 workers in the Aspirations Lab so far, all of which have been younger men and women, who graduated from college not too long ago. The whole purpose behind hiring younger people is because they are more familiar with the current financial aid situations and with choosing colleges. Howard said, “We are so lucky we’ve had such bright young men and women. They are all really bright and caring.”

The Aspirations Lab is open to any student at OHCHS, and is quite popular amongst seniors. Merz feels that it is a great place for students to evaluate what their post-secondary plans are, along with students being able to prepare for future-based exams such as the SAT’s and FAFSA. 

To promote the Aspirations Lab, Merz will be attending English classes throughout the school and explaining what he does and what the Aspirations Lab is. Guidance counselors have been very helpful as well with sending students to the Aspirations Lab. Also, he says that students are welcome to just walk in. 

When asked how he got this job, Merz explained that he had received a phone call from Howard asking him if he would be interested in applying for the job. She thought he would be a good candidate. After receiving the job offer, Merz didn’t really know all that much about the Aspirations Lab, but after looking into it and seeing what he would be doing, he decided to apply, and of course got the job. Howard commented on Merz’s work so far saying, “Sean is doing such a good job and is so conscientious."

Lacey Ryder, a member of the OHCHS Graduating Class of 2013 said, “I went to the Aspirations Lab a ton of times my Junior and Senior years. My Junior year I participated in a very helpful SAT prep course that was offered through the Aspiration Lab. My Senior year I went to the Aspiration Lab for help with choosing which schools to apply to, college applications, FAFSA info. and applications, scholarship applications, etc. Not only did I get a lot of help in the Aspirations Lab with writing essays for my college and scholarship applications, I was also able to get assistance with creating a resume and doing practice interviews before I applied for my summer job.”

Howard looks forward to the success of the Aspirations Lab; for both students and staff, and she encourages and welcomes all students to take advantage of this great opportunity.

Sean Merz, South Paris native and the new Aspirations Lab Coordinator