The most important idea that James Tierney shared with the class is that Maine is in “big trouble.” During the first two minutes of Tierney's speech, he reiterated this point several times. I would agree with Tierney, Maine is going through a tough time. The average age of states continues to grow. Maine is also one of the whitest states in the country. I agree with Tierney's vision on how to solve this problem. To solve the demographic problem we need to have an open panel, but as Tierney said, Mainer hatred is changing. The big problem I see is that diversity is not taught in schools. I came from Lee Academy, so I had a different experience than most high school students in Maine. Lee Academy is a private school that welcomes students from over twenty countries. Most people in Maine did not have my experience of being around diverse groups of people on a daily basis. Diversity and appreciation of other cultures is something the Mainer must learn to do, otherwise we will give a solution to our problems to our fellow citizens. A connection between the course and James Tierney's presentation was how Maine's average age is increasing and its ethnicity is predominantly white. These two points have been reiterated several times over the past two weeks. The increasing average age in Maine is a major reason for Maine's economic problems. Another concept the class talked about a lot is that Maine graduate students simply don't want to stay in the state. This shouldn't be a laughing matter, but many people have heard that youth are Maine's biggest export. The final connection between the course and the presentation is that Maine is one of the easiest states in the country to win elections... middle of paper ...they hate change. You'd think people in Maine would be smarter than that, but in my basketball experience, every Asian player we had had one of the worst names possible. I even remember an experience where one of my teammates cried after being called out, something I won't say. Overall, I believe Tierney shared an important notion that will help me with my blog: Mainer Hate Shift. Change can, however, be a solution to the well-being problem. This state desperately needs jobs and if bringing in immigrants can be a solution, then this state should get down on its hands and knees begging for immigrants. Who knows, it could be possible that some of the immigrants or even their children who immigrate to Maine are potentially entrepreneurs and that would be something that could definitely turn this state around..