In July, 14-year-old Stonington lobsterman Patrick Shepard will have to leave his pots with their Rocket Red and black buoys (a variant on the family colors) in the water for the three weeks he’ll be away as a student ambassador Down Under in the People to People program. While there, he’ll stay with an Australian family, go to school for a day and learn how to throw a boomerang. He’ll also go sea kayaking, fly in a hot air balloon, ride a cable car above the rainforest canopy to a mountain village, and hike through a forest of 40-foot ferns. But that’s not all. “We’re going to go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef,” he exclaimed. “That’s awesome!”
The eighth grader, who knew nothing about the program, received a letter in September inviting him to apply for the ambassadorship. He’d been recommended by a student ambassador alumnus, or by a teacher, or because of his scholastic ability. “We haven’t been able to find out in which area he was chosen,” said his mother, Susan Shepard.
Patrick’s record speaks for itself: his grade point average last term was 92.8, he’s on the basketball and soccer teams, plays drums in the band, and is a member of the school’s formidable chess team.
“We’ve been to the state championships three years in a row,” he said. “And the team came in first in its division two years in a row, which allowed them to go to the Nationals two years in a row,” his mother added. All this in addition to tending his 150 traps (the student license limit) after school and in the summer.
Pat got his lobster license at age seven. He and his licensed older brother, Matthew, who was ten at the time, worked as sternmen for their father, Michael Shepard. Lobstering is a family tradition going back many generations. Each boy each started with three traps of his own, and that first summer, Patrick trapped his first two-pounder, which he sold at the Stonington co-op, just down the road from the family house.
Two years later, Mike and Suzy Shepard bought the boys their own outboard, a 21-foot Privateer. By that time, they were fishing 18 traps apiece. Suzy used to go out with them, “Basically,” she said, “because they were too young to go out by themselves.”
As proof of the boy’s success, this past fall Matt bought his own lobsterboat, a 20-foot Mitchell Cove, and is paying for it himself. “It’s a regular lobsterboat with diesel power and all the options,” noted his father, who added that it has better electronics than his boat. Only half facetiously, he added that his sons are threatening his livelihood. “I’m having quite a job keeping Matthew out of my fishing territory,” he said; “the young blood is starting to take over.”
While Pat is in Australia, Matt will not be allowed to haul his brother’s 150 traps. He’s also going to have to hire a interim sternman to help tend his own 150 traps. Asked if he plans to advertise and interview prospective applicants, Matt, a man of few words, allowed, “No. I’m just going to take one of my friends.”
With such a diverse range of interests and activities, Patrick promises to offer a great deal to the People to People program and to be an effective student ambassador.
The program, launched in 1956 by former President Dwight. D. Eisenhower, presents many wonderful opportunities for those who participate, but it also demands a great deal. For the privilege of participating, student ambassadors are expected to learn as much as possible about the history, geography, economy, customs and current events of the places they will visit. They must also attend six orientation lectures and meetings before they leave. If Pat wants to earn academic credit for his student ambassadorship, he will be expected to keep a diary, to attend and participate in all scheduled activities and orientation lectures or meetings, and to write a three- to-five-page final report on his stay. The experience is referred to as “a global classroom.” In addition to preparation for the Australian trip, Pat and other student ambassadors will be expected to try a food substance called Vegemite. Although it sounds straight out of “I Love Lucy” (Down Under version), it’s said to be as popular as peanut butter.
“We’re going there to learn other countries’ cultures and differences and how they’re like us,” Patrick explained, adding, “I’d like to learn about their marine life.”
All this is not free. Each student ambassador must pay a tuition of $5,000. This covers nearly everything: all travel, food and accommodation, some insurance, and all the lectures and meetings abroad and all the preparatory orientation lectures here. Thirty-seven Maine junior high and high school kids have been chosen to participate, three of them from Deer Isle.
When Pat and the two other Stonington students, Adam Klemenz and Leslie Vickerson, found they were being considered, their parents met and agreed to help back whoever got picked, reported Pat’s mother. When all three were chosen, the parents all said, “How are we going to raise $15,000?”
Both parents and kids are sending letters to big organizations such as Wal-Mart, L.L. Bean, and MBNA; they’re advertising in area newspapers; and, of course, they’re hoping for individual donations. The money has to be received at the program office by May 1.
“Patrick,” said his father, “When you get back, maybe you can teach the fishermen how to make Vegemite sandwiches!”
Donations may be sent to Union Trust Co., P. O. Box 65, Stonington, ME 04681.
To find out more about becoming a student ambassador, visit their website www.studentambassadors.org, or write to IFS/Eisenhower Center, Eastern Washington University, 221 Hargreaves Hall, Cheney, WA 99004-2414 or call 1-800-541-2125.
