Nico Mayo-Pushee ‘23 calls geography “the best medium to understand the world” because, he says, “it can look at the junction between people, place and time to paint a picture of basically any event that occurs in the world.”
He found his way to the major after taking two Discovery courses that stirred an interest he had once had in the subject. One class was taught by Jennifer Brewer, associate professor of geography and department chair. “She was very helpful in aiding me to declare the major, and her class was the first geography class I took here,” he says.
Mayo-Pushee is serving his third year on his dorm’s Hall Council, which has had him helping to plan events for the other residents. He has made the dean’s list every semester since starting at UNH. While he hasn’t decided what he will do after graduation, Mayo-Pushee says he would like to publish the collection of short stories he’s been working on. He’s also considering a possible career as a high school teacher in English or geopolitics. He has enjoyed being in the College of Liberal Arts because of “the variety of subjects and classes that are offered that have a tendency to overlap in themes and content with other classes you may be taking to look at issues from multiple perspectives.”
Something that may surprise people about him is he has a 1000+ day streak in Duolingo for French and occasional German. To have fun or just relax, he turns to sports.
“I really enjoy playing intramural sports, as they are fun, and while competitive, my nature is to be able to relax in those settings,” Mayo-Pushee says, adding that one of the most important lessons he has learned at UNH is to “put yourself out there.”
“Most of my best experiences here have been achieved through going out and doing things: hall council, intramurals, orientation leading, etc.,” he says. “Doing these things takes you out of your comfort zone and puts you in a room with similar people taking the same step.”
