Staying Curious
Aidan Manahan | OSI Intern
I will never drive through Millinocket the same way again. I have planted seeds here now, and there is little as exciting as watching seeds germinate. I grew up in Newcastle, Maine which is in the Midcoast. I went to high school in Carrabassett Valley, and I am currently in school in Orono. I study mechanical engineering with a passion for wind power.
The internship with OSI was a logical continuation of my interest in the question: “what do people in Maine need?” Plus, it offered opportunity for expanding the little triangle of roots I had created in the state even further north, which I hoped would offer just a little bit more perspective on Maine. Millinocket delivered. Often, the question of “what do people in Maine need?” is complex and Millinocket embodies these complexities – a place where the mill shift whistle still sounds several times a day, but also where you can rent a kayak at the public library. It is this coming together of tradition and new opportunity that make the area such an interesting place to have an internship.
At the beginning of the summer, OSI director, Mike Smith, laid out a four-piece framework for us to sift ideas through in the coming months. The framework consisted of story, habits, community, and curiosity. It was not long into our week of orientation that I decided my story is nothing without the outdoors. Every part of my story, whether it be my family’s sailboat, working on tall ships at a young age, going to a ski academy for high school, or getting through my freshman year of college because I was hired at the outdoor adventure center on campus, depends on the outdoors. My parents emphasized a relationship with nature from the moment I was born, and I have only grown increasingly committed to that relationship.
This summer I had the opportunity to help develop trail maps and make trail signs, work with community programs, and help with a plan for sustainable and affordable equipment access in the Katahdin region. I think that improving accessibility encourages people to cultivate a similar relationship to the natural world as I have been lucky enough to have. I’m grateful, after all, that my parents started by kicking me out the back door.
When we dove into thinking about our habits, I was able to examine my previous experience working in the outdoor industry. I had made a habit out of working in jobs outside -- like taking tourists out of Camden Harbor for a couple hours. However, I burned out of that because I felt like I had no purpose. I came to OSI this summer trying to start a new habit; embracing my privilege to work in the outdoors in ways I feel are meaningful.
A sense of purpose for encouraging people to develop relationships with the outdoors began for me when I started working at Maine Bound, the adventure center at the University of Maine. When I was welcomed into that community, I understood there was much more to working in the outdoors than simply being outside. Over the course of the summer, I’ve discovered that it is essential to focus on empowering the community, often through accessibility, so the community can develop thorough their own initiative. This seems true about much more than outdoor recreation.
As the summer drew to a close, the final theme of curiosity resurfaced. When the summer began, I had just returned from a month-long road trip and I was feeling under-stimulated by day to day life. I realized that the simplest fix for my melancholy was to embrace curiosity and try to learn something in every interaction with others. In our last week, Mike brought up the theme of curiosity with the line, “if truth is gravity, curiosity is water.” This summer, amongst so much other learning, I discovered that I am happiest when I am driven by curiosity. Everyone has different stories, habits, and communities, so there is no end to discovery if you remain open and curious.