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Being a high school senior seeking out my next step in life, I feel compelled to address the number of young people leaving the state of Maine due to accessibility issues involving opportunities. More concerningly, rural Maine struggles especially to provide young adults with higher education.
After speaking to multiple peers who share my perspective, I realized there is not nearly enough support or interest from our community.
Things such as rising living costs and diminishing mental health can be a challenge for those trying to expand beyond Maine. If action is not taken I believe this will surely drive Maine’s future into other corners of the country while our current population dies out.
Since I arrived in Maine some three years ago, I have eagerly awaited the day I could leave and “actually start my life” in a place I knew young people flourished and were encouraged to seek out their unique paths, not where older people came to retire. What Maine’s youth is looking for is a state where our minds can be stimulated in places outside of school while freely roaming the possibilities of life rather than being isolated within the restraints of small towns and limited expectations, such as engineering, and field biology.
Many of us feel unimportant and unwelcome due to the overdone catering to the older population. We should not be feeling this way! We should feel like our state can sufficiently provide us with the tools we require to start our futures. If our state wants an everlasting residency, we should reconsider what will make people stay and show support to those beyond the older population who are retired.
Grace Self
Eddington
