Orono, ME - Since his time at the University of Maine Maine, Jermaine Walker '05 has gone down many different paths, all however holding the same goal.

"Everything that I have done is based on trying to help make society better," says Walker. "I truly believe that we are all here for a reason to have an impact and we should all try to do more than survive or just help ourselves out. You never know what the person next to you is going through or what the impact of a conversation will have for them in the long run".

Walker is a football alum who played from 2002 through 2005. He then returned in 2007 to get his masters where he did his graduate assistantship assistant coach program under former head football coach Jack Cosgrove. From there, Walker went on to be a full-time special education teacher for four years. After teaching, Walker moved on to become a police officer in Bangor where he stayed for nine years. During this time, he also started his own food truck (JJ's Jerk Shack) that is still open today as cooking has always been a passion of Walker's. Lastly, he tried his hand at selling life insurance. Walker has loved getting the chance to work in so many fields and get to change his environment.

"I am always up for a new challenge and I love a competitive and growth driven environment. I don't like being stagnant or not having an impact on society."

Now Walker finds himself as a real estate agent at EXP Realty where he has a passion for real estate and getting the privilege of finding people homes.

"I have always had an interest in pairing families to homes, helping them transition from one place to another, and assisting any way I can," says Walker.

Walker describes Maine as providing him with a positive environment during his time spent here. Being from out of state himself, he describes the athletic department at Maine as being a
reminder of home with all his teammates being from a variety of places. As a student-athlete, Walker learned skills that he still applies to his life today.

"The greatest thing I got from UMaine was learning to balance all of the moving parts of athletics, academics, and your personal life."

With February being Black History Month, Walker also talked about the impact this month can have and why it is important to him.

"It's a reminder to cherish what I have in front of me and that my freedom and ability to do as much entrepreneurship stuff that I'm doing is a road paved by people before me that had to pay a price for it", says Walker. "It also gives me a chance to talk to my kids and educate them about where we come from."

Within the Black Community, Walker also has many different role models he has had the chance to meet. Walker talked about one role model he met during his time at Maine that stuck with him.

"Coach Comissiong had a lot of heart-to-heart conversations with me whether about missing home or other conversations that always helped bring me back to the mindset I needed to be in during my time at Maine."

Being a part of the football team at Maine, it is clear Walker was able to learn new skills and meet people who have impacted him for a lifetime. Lastly, Walker touched on the other skills he was able to learn at Maine outside of the football field that have helped launch him into his many different careers.

"A lot of the programs I did at UMaine, especially in my first year, helped me to understand the roundabout way of being in business; it's a combination of lots of different things. The classes I was able to take provided me with a variety of things that I see now in my life."

-UMaine-