Gov. Paul LePage’s assertion that Maine students are "looked down upon" by out-of-state colleges is laughably untrue. This kind of attitude from a governmental leader is inane and dangerous — what message does it send to the state’s most fecund population, its students?

I graduated from Boston University in May 2011, the same year many of my fellow Lewiston High School class of 2007 graduates received degrees from colleges near and far. My years at BU were the most important of my life, and the best.

I felt welcomed by Boston, and I relished opportunities to learn alongside people whose backgrounds were totally different from my own. Never did I felt inferior to others based on where we called home.

Looking back, I believe that my post-college life is quite similar to the lives of my peers who studied in Maine. We’re equally “smart” and accomplished, with plenty of shared challenges but lots of different memories.

Meeting up with my LHS friends now, it’s the stories we share about our diverse experiences that bond us again. We’re all proud of the homes we created for ourselves at our colleges, and proud that we ourselves —  not the cities we studied in —  defined our academic journeys.

Maine is a dynamic place to learn and grow, but it is not the only place.

In bullying students into staying in the state with careless claims, Gov. LePage compromises their own worth to the world, which is one feeling no student should ever feel.

Lauren Rodrigue, Brooklyn, N.Y.