Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership of Maine

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  • Welcome
    • HOBY Story
    • Corporate Board
    • Mission, Vision and Values
    • What People are Saying
    • HOBY International >
      • World Leadership Congress
      • International Programs
  • Donate!
    • Our Supporters
  • Volunteer
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  • 2019 Seminar Information

A little Karma goes a long way...

3/3/2016

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We are elated to share that HOBY Maine has been chosen by the Scarborough Hannaford as the latest beneficiary of the Hannaford Helps Reusable Bag program!  This means every time anyone purchases the blue reusable bag with the good karma message at the Hannaford in Scarborough, ME during the month of March, we receive $1~ This is truly a great opportunity for us!  Please go to the store, find the reusable bag rack and buy the bag!
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Now Accepting Staff Applications for 2016 Seminar

12/1/2015

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Now Accepting Applications!

HOBY Maine is now recruiting volunteers for our 2016 Seminar! The Seminar will be held June 3-5, 2016 at the University of Maine at Farmington. Our volunteers make the weekend possible and we could not do it without your help.

If you, or someone you know, is interested in volunteering with us, please send us an application (see links below).  If you have questions, feel free to e-mail our Directors of Facilitators: Amy Davis (amy@hobymaine.org) and Ben Glidden (ben@hobymaine.org).

Please note: Application Deadline for Junior Staff is January 1st, 2016. Senior Staff official deadline is April 1st however priority will be given to applications received by January 1st.

If you are interested in other volunteer opportunities beyond the seminar weekend please email us at info@hobymaine.org.  We are always on the lookout for Board, Fundraising and Seminar Planning volunteers! 
Junior Staff Application (<21years)
Senior Staff Application (>21years)
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My HOBY Maine Experience - Erin McKeown

6/3/2015

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Picture'Silly' Lily (Left) and 'Enthusiastic' Erin (Right)
By 'Enthusiastic' Erin McKeown '15

If someone had told me that within the 52 hours at the HOBY Maine seminar my view of myself and the world around me would completely alter, I would’ve called them crazy. After HOBY I can say two things: they were crazy and they were right.

After waking up at 5:20 am on Friday morning and driving 2 hours to University of Maine at Farmington, I was beginning to regret my decision to apply. I was exhausted, proven by the designer bags underneath my eyes. The first cheer we did was less than enthusiastic. The offbeat clapping and mumbled words added to my mind’s disorganization and doubt of my HOBY plan.

It wasn’t until I was sitting with my group (Team Wisdom) that night, when I realized my life had begun to change. I felt judgement free, my hair was a mess and my makeup smudged, and I was focusing on who I was not how I looked. I have never felt more open in my life. I was surrounded by people from all different backgrounds, families and counties, but we were unified by the same goal: to become better leaders. My team and I were working together to solve problems and discussing things we were passionate about like politics, whether colored twizzlers or normal twizzlers tasted better, etc. As I went to bed that night after a rousing card game with all of the HOBY girls on my floor, I began to notice the potential within myself and those around me.

As Saturday sped by in a blur of motivational speakers and leadership activities I realized what was so special about HOBY. It was the first time I had sat in a room and knew everyone in that room believed in me. They all believed that I would succeed in someway and somehow change the world and that support, that HOBY love, completely shifted my views of myself and of the fellow leaders of my generation. I was sitting in a room of explosive power, the strength of empowered youth, and the momentum we can create will move mountains. We were free to express whatever ideas we had, no matter how irrational or radical, and we were encompassed by support no matter how crazy our notions were. HOBY gave me a new motivation, a new passion for life and I was blessed to find the most amazing people I’ve ever met.

At lunch Saturday I had one of the best conversations of my life. Sitting around the cafeteria table was my junior facilitator Ronnie and fellow ambassadors Luca and Sadie. Throughout the lunch hour we argued, laughed and debated pros and cons of everything we believed in. I no longer felt like I had to fit into a social category of popular girl, soccer player or theater kid. There at that table, with a heated debate flowing around me, I redefined myself. I was no longer what society expected or what my friends wanted, I was me, I became Erin McKeown and, thanks to HOBY, I’m going to find a way to change the world.

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My HOBY Maine Experience - Luca Serio

6/2/2015

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Picture'Loud' Luca (Left) and 'Nutty" Noah (Right)
By 'Loud' Luca Serio '15

My HOBY experience started two days early. I received a call from the junior facilitator at my future table while at a team dinner for an ultimate frisbee team that I wouldn't be able to join at the State Tournament later that Saturday and Sunday. This was initially a really conflicting decision for me, but I can honestly say attending the seminar is worth missing anything. What you might miss back home may feel amazing at the time, but being with such a fantastic group of people and having some of the most intellectual discussions I've ever had will stay with me for far longer than anything else I could have been doing.

The caller introduced herself as Emily and told me something that stuck with me throughout the whole weekend and beyond. "If we ask you to do something, go with it,” she said. “Don't be afraid to make a fool of yourself."

With this in mind, I rolled up to the University of Maine in Farmington anticipating awkwardness and hesitation among the students, and even though I was initially correct, by lunch time we caught on with some of the cheers. After our second speaker, Dr. Foster, my peers and I were able to effectively reassure her that she was O-U-T-S-T-A-N-D-I-N-G.

The constant cheering brought us together in a way that I couldn't have foreseen. When some of us weren't trying all that hard, the enthusiasm and effect was notably less, but when we were all wholeheartedly clapping our hands and testing our voices, we shook rooms and flexed out windows. A fellow ambassador, Erin, brought her own cheer to the seminar, I guess you could say that this blew my mind in that it was one of the broadest examples of making the HOBY experience unique and personal. This cheer will certainly appear at more HOBY seminars than she might, and to have the sort of impact - contributing to, altering, and improviving such an ingrained part of the program (cheering) - is amazing to see. Personally, I helped lead in what I hope will become the first annual HOBY cinnamon roll.

At school, each student is directed and instructed what to study and fill their heads with. But when you step into HOBY Central, you are the captain of your own ship. What you take away from the weekend and back to school is up to you and only you. So as someone who told one of my friends the summer before, "I fear nothing more than public humiliation," being told to “go with it,” was beyond scary for me. What if I tripped? What if my voice cracks? What if I forget the words? Very real questions I would ask myself.

But at Saturday lunch, my senior facilitator, Ben, made all of that go away. As I went to take a bite of my roast beef sandwich, I was stopped by two words: “HEY LUCA.” It was at that moment I realized that I was going to have to get down. I was secretly awaiting this moment with a mixture of dread and excitement. Maybe again, I could be the first one to do something. And as the first ambassador to get called out to get down alone, I took my chance and got down like it was a school dance. The applause told me that I had impressed, and the feeling told me that my fear, supposedly my biggest fear, no long was part of my life. If there was one moment that I could relive from the weekend, that may be it. 


Going to HOBY, sitting idly in the back and not talking a lot will change how you see world. But going to HOBY and grabbing each opportunity by the horns will change your life. To anyone needing revival, inspiration, rejuvenation, or even a few friends they're going to have forever, look no further.

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Thank you Sam's Club - Augusta, ME!

1/1/2015

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We are extremely grateful to Sam's Club in Augusta, ME for becoming a 2015 Outstanding Community Sponsor with a generous donation of $1000!  

Sam's Club facilities are encouraged to support nonprofits or other causes important to their community, provided they fall within one of the Walmart Foundation's focus areas ( Hunger Relief & Healthy Eating, Sustainability, Women's Economic Empowerment or Career Opportunity). Other local areas of focus may include Education and Youth Success.

www.samsclub.com

On behalf of our volunteers, alumni and ambassadors we thank you! 

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HOBY Maine 2014 was OUTSTANDING!

7/20/2014

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On Friday, May 30th - 53 slightly nervous and uncertain High School sophomores from across the state of Maine from Fort Kent to Elliot arrived at the Olsen Student Center on the University of Maine Farmington's campus.

For three days these outstanding young leaders worked together with a team of dedicated volunteers to explore leadership and service and learned that they have true potential to make a positive impact on their communities.  Each student actively engaged in learning activities to understand how their values shape who they are as a leader and how understanding their leadership style as well as the styles of others can make them better team members.  Team challenges put their learning to the test!  

Our ambassadors had the opportunity to listen to and interact with several amazing guest speakers throughout the weekend including Attorney General Janet Mills, Rep. Justin Chenette, Jamie Marcus - Director of Admissions UMF, Laura Moorehead - Institute for Civic Leadership, Jeffrey Jordan - MidCoast Regional Redevelopment Authority, Will Nelligan - Analyst at Archer Gray, LLC., Nate Kane - MYAN and Staci Olsen - Girls on the Run.

Brooke DePuy, one of our 2014 alumni shared this about her experience:
"It is a simply life changing experience. All of the ambassadors are there for the same reason that you are, which is a great feeling. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity that no one should pass up! You learn so much about yourself, how to be a leader, and how you can create a ripple effect that could change the world. Everything that goes on at HOBY is so inspiring and it encourages you to really be the best that you can. In the midst of all that, the HOBY experience is also a blast! And you meet so many great people."


Thank you to all our sponsors and dedicated volunteers who made this weekend possible!

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Outstanding Community Sponsor - Sam's Club in Scarborough

7/20/2014

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A big shout out to Sam's Club in Scarborough, ME for becoming our most recent Outstanding Community Sponsor with a generous donation of $1000!  

Sam's Club facilities are encouraged to support nonprofits or other causes important to their community, provided they fall within one of the Walmart Foundation's focus areas ( Hunger Relief & Healthy Eating, Sustainability, Women's Economic Empowerment or Career Opportunity). Other local areas of focus may include Education and Youth Success.

www.samsclub.com

On behalf of our volunteers, alumni and ambassadors we thank you!  
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Outstanding Community Sponsor - Walmart Scarborough, ME!

6/19/2014

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Thank you to Walmart in Scarborough, ME for supporting HOBY Maine with a $1000 Community Grant!  

From Walmart's Community page: "Walmart believes in operating globally and giving back locally – creating impact in the neighborhoods where we live and work. Through the Community Grant Program, our associates are proud to support the needs of their communities by providing grants to local organizations."

From all of us at HOBY Maine - thank you Walmart Scarborough for your generous support of our program!  Your donation makes it possible for us to continue growing youth leaders for the future of Maine!  

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Skylar Thorne Kelly joins HOBY Maine 2014 team

5/7/2014

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We are SO excited to welcome Skylar Thorne Kelly to the HOBY Maine 2014 team!  Skylar brings extraordinary talent in telling stories and will be helping us tell our HOBY Maine story through his photos and video.  Working behind the scenes he will capture the outstanding transformations that happen throughout our seminar weekend.  

Skylar is a jack of all trades. Most of his days and weeks vary between photography and video production, but sometimes he dabbles in carpentry, landscaping and heavy equipment operation. He reads lots of science fiction, history and picture books. 

Skylar is looking forward to HOBY because, in his own words: "HOBY represents an opportunity to connect with a younger generation and reflect on their experience of 21st century America. I want to know what challenges young people face today and how they are adapting to excel in their environment."

His favorite leadership quote is from Thomas Jefferson: "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock."

Please join me in welcoming Skylar to the HOBY Maine team!

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Chris Hebert returns to HOBY Maine as a Senior Facilitator!

5/5/2014

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Chris Hebert attended HOBY Maine in 2007 as an ambassador from Wells High School. He returned as a Junior Facilitator in 2008 and graduated from Salve Regina in 2013 with a degree in Global Business and Economics. He is currently working as a Contract Specialist at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center in Newport, RI.  

When asked why he wanted to return to HOBY, Chris said: "I had an amazing experience when I went to HOBY as an Ambassador and I really want to help others have a great experience."

His favorite quote is: "Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail."

Welcome back Chris!  Excited to have you on Senior Staff!

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