OMGLOL (OUT Maine Goes Live on the Lake) is our annual fall youth leadership retreat, where teens ages 14-18 embark on a three-day exploration of advocacy skills and community building. In 2025, program staff developed a whole new series of interwoven workshops to help attendees take action on issues they cared about. It was our most successful OMGLOL yet, and took place on an all new campus!
Youth chose their workshop content based on a unique “quest.” These quests had varying degrees of fantasy-based content and realism, but all of the quest options pertained to relevant social issues. Violence prevention, climate change, and immigration are a few examples of the quest options provided. Think of the quest structure as abbreviated Dungeons & Dragons campaigns! Once chosen, youth would work in their quest groups through workshops such as team building on a ropes course, communications activities, and community mapping. Participants embodied their own characters and journeyed through fictional scenarios in pursuit of their quests, all the while developing social and emotional learning skills (self awareness, self management, social awareness, responsible decision-making, and relationship skills) and advocacy abilities.
The format for this year’s OMGLOL was a hit. One youth described the weekend as “An adventure worth spending with people you can love and trust.” Another attendee highlighted their favorite parts of the program: “Friendship, skill building, escapism, and refueling my cup.” And another youth said, “It (OMGLOL) is an opportunity to be brave, to reach out of my comfort zone, and meet new people.”
OUT Maine’s staff had a blast, too. And we can’t wait for next year!
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