Many of our June high school graduates will be heading off to college in the next week or so. For most, it’s their first taste of life away from their home town, and sadly, many of them will never return after college except to visit friends and family whenever time permits.

They’ll find employment, marry and raise their families somewhere else. A few will come back to live full-time only after they retire.

It’s not easy to entice our young people to stay here in Maine, and in some small towns it’s especially hard because good job opportunities are scarce as are social and cultural events for them to enjoy.

No matter where you grow up, however, it’s true that the grass always appears to be greener elsewhere. It’s only natural to feel that you’re missing out on a lot if you stay in your home town.

With so many new career opportunities in today’s world, admittedly some young college graduates are often limited in their options if they choose to live in rural Maine. Communities trying to keep these promising young folks are facing an uphill battle, and they know it, but we’re feeling good about our odds here in our own town.

First, we’re really luckier than most, because we live in what we’d like to call a “happening” community. Being a popular vacation destination opens up a number of career opportunities as the result of our tourist industry.

We have yet another thing going for us: More and more folks are choosing the area for their retirement homes, so the demand for many trained men and women in the service industry has skyrocketed in recent years, as has the demand for a wide variety of professional people.

In addition to a good-paying job, young folks (and those not so young!) want a social life and activities that interest them and provide a good environment for not only them, but their children.

The summer months are usually jam-packed with all sorts of cultural and social events. Plus, we’re seeing more and more every year, once again attributed in part to the fact that we’re a tourist town. Fortunately, there’s a trend toward more and more offseason activities, too, offering something for nearly everyone. These events bring visitors to town even in the dead of winter.

It’s critical that we take every possible step to retain today’s young people. Nothing is sadder than to see these bright students leave our community for college and never return. We want them to be our leaders of tomorrow with all the good traits of their parents before them.

We need to do everything possible to create an economic atmosphere and lifestyle that is attractive to the next generation to convince our young folks that this is the place they want to be.