Loma Jones ’25
The water was still as the boat rocked in the July heat, 20 miles off Florida鈥檚 Gulf Coast. Standing at its edge, Loma Jones watched the ocean鈥檚 surface as though it was speaking. In a way, it was.
Below the surface, a dark shadow cut past the hull. A shark. A sentinel of ocean health. The kind of animal that ignited something in Jones long before she had the words to name it. She doesn鈥檛 flinch. She doesn鈥檛 reach for her phone. She leans forward.
A month earlier, Jones stood at a very different edge, the stage for Merrill Auditorium in downtown Portland, Maine. Looking out at a sea of faces 鈥� Unity鈥檚 largest graduating class to date 鈥� Jones, student speaker for the Class of 2025, spoke with calm, resonant clarity. 鈥淚 told my mom, 鈥業 wanted to be a marine biologist at age seven,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 just didn鈥檛 know how long the road would be, or how many times I鈥檇 have to reroute.鈥�
