Grief on Campus

Mollie Smith
Contributing Writer

I lost my mother before Spring 2020 began, before COVID, and before lockdown. Being an only child to a single mother, I didn’t have anyone to help me through this challenging time, my closest living relatives being at least three hours away. I felt completely alone. That is, until my advisor got me in contact with Dr. Elyse Pratt-Ronco, the assistant director of Upward Bound at UMF, who also happened to run the grief group on campus.

Grief Group, also known as “The Sad Kid’s Club” by some members, has been on campus since Pratt-Ronco started working at UMF in 2013. Pratt-Ronco saw an opportunity to start a group for College Students at UMF who were dealing with grief on campus after she noticed there wasn’t anything in the community for students to take advantage of.

Pratt-Ronco experienced her own loss during her senior year at UMF when her roommate and best-friend passed away. “I felt very isolated,” Pratt-Ronco said. “UMF supported me in so many ways, but I think I would have benefited from a group of my peers to talk to about how impacted I was by the loss.”

When Pratt-Ronco started Grief Group nine years ago, her goal was simple: “I wanted to be able to support the students on campus who have experienced loss. There are a lot of college students who are grieving, and I wanted to be able to provide a space for them to meet each other and support one another.”

Grief Group is where students with a shared experience can come together and feel however they want and say what they need. A place to hang out, eat snacks, and laugh. If you suffered a loss and are interested in Joining Grief Group, please contact Pratt-Ronco at Elyse.Pratt@maine.edu. And just remember, you are not alone, and your feelings are valid.