ORONO, Maine, Sept. 2 -- University of Maine issued the following news release:
This story was published in the Fall 2026 edition of MAINE Alumni Magazine.
By Joy Hollowell
"Wait - you were a theater major?"
Penquis CEO Kara Hay '99 hears that question a lot when her days at the University of Maine come up.
"Yes, theater," Hay confirms, chuckling. "Wildly impractical, I know. But that's where my heart lived."
It's also where she felt at home. Hay moved around Maine frequently while growing up, due to what she describes as a "rough childhood." She graduated from Ashland Community High School with 32 students.
"I appreciated being in the County," she says, "but it was way too small for me.
UMaine was giant! And it felt really far away...