By Michael Hilton
The last few weeks at Upward Bound, on the University of Maine at Farmington campus, have been full of engaging activities. Recently, we went to Monmouth Theatre and saw a Shakespearean play called, As You Like It.
Going to see a play during the summer is a long-standing Upward Bound tradition. For many years we went to Lakewood Theatre in Madison. The past few years, though, we’ve been going to Monmouth Theater and the results have been spectacular. The shows have been amazing and they are always so welcoming of such a large group of high school students.
Going to the theater is usually a pretty big deal here at Upward Bound. Everyone gets all dressed up and we head off for the night to the show. The clothing attire ranges all the way from prom dresses and full suits to casual attire and is really whatever you want to make of it.
There have also been other new events that have taken place here. Last week we got to see the Western Mountain Trash Can Band. They played for us for an hour out on the library green before the rain pushed us inside where they continued for another hour. They were very energetic and engaging.
The second was a visit from Hope Douglas of Wind Over Wings. Wind Over Wings is a nonprofit wildlife educational center. They care for birds who were injured and can no longer survive on their own in the wild. They feature birds ranging in size from a northern saw-whet owl that only grows to be a few inches tall, to a golden eagle that has a wingspan of up to eight feet wide. Each bird has its own story and they were inspiring to hear.
We also had a visit from marathon runner Gary Allen, one of an elite few runners who have recorded a sub-three-hour marathon in five consecutive decades. He has run over 100,000 miles in his lifetime and competed in over 90 marathons. Mr. Allen is a Maine native from Great Cranberry Island and the founder and director of the Mount Desert Island Marathon.
I had the pleasure of eating lunch with him and a few other Upward Bound students before he spoke to us as a group. We talked about running and where it’s brought us and what we’d each experienced. We talked about how it’s impacted us and our lives.
The one thing he said that really struck me was when Mr. Allen said, “If you can run one mile, then you can run two. If you can write one word, then you can write a novel.”
Michael Hilton of Bingham, graduated from high school this year. This is his third summer attending the Upward Bound program on the University of Maine at Farmington campus and, as part of his course work, is writing for the Daily Bulldog. He will be starting his freshman year at Colby College in the fall.
