At the University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation, we often measure success in scholarships awarded, co-op placements secured, and careers launched. We talk about leadership development, networking, and 100 percent job placement. Those outcomes matter. They are the reason we exist.
But over the years, something else has quietly taken root within our community. Between Consider Engineering and CHE 111. Between mill tours and Paper Days. Between late nights in Jenness Hall and early mornings at co-ops.
Relationships have formed that extend far beyond the classroom.
As we look back at the love stories shared by our alumni, it becomes clear that UMPPF has built more than careers. It has built lifelong partnerships.
Monique and Alex Claverie
A Foundation That Started with Physics Homework
Monique Cote Claverie and Alex Claverie both began their journeys with UMPPF at the summer Juniors program. They attended different weeks, so their paths did not cross until the fall of freshman year.
Their first connection came over physics homework. By the second semester, they were dating. By senior year, they were engaged.
They married in 2002 on the same night as the NCAA hockey championship. Guests at their reception moved back and forth between the dance floor and the big screen. It was a celebration of commitment in more ways than one.
In 2022, they returned to celebrate their twentieth anniversary at Paper Days. Next year, they will celebrate twenty-five years of marriage.
UMaine gave them an education. UMPPF gave them a community. Together, those experiences shaped a life.
Grace and Austin Gilboe
It Started with a Raised Hand
Austin Gilboe and Grace Farrington met on the very first day of engineering orientation in 2017.
During introductions, the Chemical Engineering counselor asked who was part of the Pulp and Paper Foundation. They both raised their hands. In that small moment of shared identity, they noticed each other.
Their first conversation has since become part of their story. Austin asked, “Ketchup or mustard?” Grace answered, “Mayonnaise.” He smiled.
From their first apartment in Orono to co-op assignments in Virginia and eventually careers at Sappi Somerset, they built their lives side by side. They have been together for eight and a half years and married for one and a half.
Sometimes the beginning of something meaningful is as simple as recognizing someone who shares your path.
McKenna and Nathanael Goulette
A Scholarship Banquet That Changed Everything
In 2017, McKenna Goulette attended Consider Engineering and met one of her closest friends. A year later, at a scholarship banquet, she was introduced to her friend’s brother, Nathanael Goulette.
They began dating in 2020 and were married on October 18, 2025. The Foundation was woven throughout their story. UMPPF even received a lighthearted mention in their wedding vows, a testament to the role it played in bringing their lives together.
Their wedding guest list reflected the depth of their connection to the community. Scholarship recipients, alumni, mentors, and longtime friends filled the room. For them, UMPPF was never just a financial award. It was the network of people who shaped their college experience and stood beside them as they began their next chapter.
Emma and Tanner White
From Paper Days to Parenthood
Emma and Tanner White met at Paper Days in 2018 while co-oping at Sappi Somerset.
Not long after, they traveled together to PaperCon in Charlotte. What began as shared professional experiences gradually became something more personal.
Their first date included a mix-up at Gifford’s. Tanner went to Skowhegan. Emma went to Waterville. He waited. She arrived. The story has become one they now tell with affection.
They were married in 2024 and are expecting a baby girl.
What started with co-ops and conference travel has grown into a family.
Alia and Charlie Spiegel
From CHE 111 to Raising the Next Generation
Alia and Charlie Spiegel met on the first day of CHE 111. Like so many engineering students, they began as classmates navigating a challenging curriculum.
Today, they are raising the next generation of pulp and paper scholars.
When reflecting on their journey, they shared that they owe so much to UMPPF. For them, the Foundation was part of nearly every milestone. It shaped their college years, strengthened their professional path, and connected them to a community that continues to support them.
Their story captures something simple and powerful. The experiences students share inside lecture halls often extend far beyond graduation.
More Than Career Placement
The University of Maine Pulp and Paper Foundation was built to recruit, support, and prepare the next generation of engineers. That mission remains unchanged.
Yet when we look at these stories together, we see a broader impact. We see friendships that turned into marriages. We see classmates who became partners. We see professional networks that became family.
The Foundation’s strength has always been its community. It is the sense that students are not simply earning a degree but becoming part of something enduring.
In laboratories and lecture halls, at Paper Days and scholarship banquets, lives intersect in ways no one can predict. Years later, those intersections become anniversaries, wedding photos, and children who will one day hear how their parents met.
It turns out that when you bring together driven, thoughtful, community-minded engineers, you build more than careers.
You build futures.
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