Meet new student Grace Farnham

By Gabriella Grondalski and Grace Keller

Grace Farnham is a new student here at UMass Amherst and is in the process of declaring the Communication Major. Before attending UMass, Farnham never anticipated transferring, especially to a University so close to home. “Growing up next to Amherst, UMass was always here. I applied when I graduated high school, but I never really thought about it due to thinking I wanted to move away from home.” Upon high school graduation, Farnham attended Clark University, located in Worcester, MA. While attending Clark, she felt as though she had returned to high school. She struggled to receive the resources she needed to succeed and found it hard to connect with her peers and professors. As a result of the pandemic, she returned home and decided to explore other colleges and universities. The search resulted in her re-applying and transferring to UMass. She found that transferring to UMass helped lift some of her financial burdens because she lives so close to campus.

During her first year at Clark University, she had a great deal of interest in international development, but that soon shifted when she took classes focusing on media, culture, and the arts. When she transferred to UMass, she found that the Communication Major focuses on the topics she wanted to study. This semester, Farnham is taking some introductory Communication courses and a math class. Once she has completed the process of declaring the major, she is looking forward to diving into more focused upper-level courses.

Farnham has so far found the online learning environment to be both welcoming and easy to navigate. From getting acclimated to needing resources, her professors have been supportive and understanding. She is currently enjoying all of her classes and one has excited her a bit more than the others: her math class. “Because the teacher is so awesome and has made it super easy to learn online. This is a big thing because if a class is easy and manageable in person, yet you can transfer that to online learning, that steps it up for me.”

Once we can return to campus, Farnham is looking forward to meeting her peers in person and forming personal connections. She is also excited about UMass Dining and having the ability to swipe into the halls. “Anytime I ate at one of the dining halls, I had to pay. So, being able to just swipe in will be amazing.” At the moment, Farnham is not a part of any campus organizations, but she is considering joining the UMass Dressage Team, as she rode horses while at Clark. We are very excited that Farnham has found her place here at UMass, and we look forward to seeing all of the things she accomplishes during her time here!