PORTLAND, Maine — With Independence Day right around the corner, it's a fitting moment to think about what it means to be an American. That's a question a group of high school seniors has been pondering for the past week in Portland, many of them visiting the Pine Tree State for the first time.
These students are taking part in the American Exchange Project, a program designed to help students from around the country visit a new area and connect with people who may be different from them culturally, politically, and religiously. This is the second year Portland has hosted kids. There's also a camp location in Dover-Foxcroft.
"While adults have to navigate this hyper-divided environment we're living in now, kids are growing up in it. It's becoming the norm," David McCullough III, the CEO and co-founder of the AEP, said.
McCullough, who's originally from Massachusetts, said he was inspired to create the AEP after doing some research in college and spending time in Ohio, South Dakota, and Texas. He said that experience made him want to change other people's perceptions about certain places and become more open-minded.
"You don't need to be motivated by wanting to empathize with a Democrat or Republican," McCullough said. "You should be motivated by wanting to sail on the Casco Bay or ride a horse in Texas."
This Portland session's campers, Laila Stevenson of Kansas City, Missouri and Matthew Echols of Little Rock, Arkansas, each had never been to Maine before. They said it was a state on the top of their lists.
"I picked Maine because you hear about it in the movies and it feels so not real," Stevenson said, noting this is the first time she has ever seen the ocean.
"We have people from seven different states. No one is from the same area exactly," Echols said about the diversity of the group.
Both campers said they think a big part of this program is realizing that differences in political or religious opinions don't necessarily have to define a relationship.
"We're all different, but we still have so much in common at the same time," Stevenson said.
"We don't focus on our differences. We focus on our similarities," Echols said, later adding, "If you're too focused on what sets you apart, it's going to be much harder to come together with other people."
Kevin Murray is the Portland exchange manager for the AEP. He said he's excited about the prospects of this program because of watching how people his age interact.
"People my age are kind of in their tribe. It's sort of unspoken, but there's a so-called left and right, red and blue," Murray said.
Murray said despite the polarization that exists, he's confident there's hope in the younger generation.
"I know that if there are negative forces, the positive forces are stronger," Murray said.
These students who take part in AEP are able to do so for free since the program is a nonprofit. They stay with host families in the location they're visiting. Murray said they're in need of host families in the Greater Portland area. You can learn more here.