The Same

By joining together over similar interests for common good, we can produce change. No matter who you are or where you live we all make up Williamsport, and we all want to see it thrive.

I have this spot on Lycoming College’s campus tucked up behind the quad by the Sterling Gates. On the hill sits a small wooden bench dedicated to the memory of “Ginny,” which connects back to my grandmother’s name, and I’ll bring a small gray blanket to lay across it.

I like to sit there in the summer about thirty minutes before the sun will set with headphones in, a blank page of a legal pad, an iced tea, and bare feet. It’s not the best view, but I like how secluded I feel underneath tree canopies, watching the sun move through the silhouetted leaves.

The sunset might look a little different there than from the Scenic Overlook, driving 15 South, from the parking lot of Hanna, on the roof of the American Rescue Workers, but it’s still the sunset. The orange hue still glows from behind paved highways or the mountain ranges. We can all still see it.

I think that’s something that transitions into how we view our city. You might live in Newberry, an apartment on West Fourth, a small suburban home in Loyalsock, but you still could potentially view something the same way as someone who lives on 2nd Street, Grampian, or Millionaire’s Row.

When it comes to politics, school district decisions, involvement with organizations, we all have different opinions. People’s values are naturally going to differ and some voices are going to sound louder than others, but that doesn’t mean we all don’t have them.

My values are just as important as the persons who lives down the street from me or in the room across the hall. Just because we all look different: skin tones, hair length, clothing choices, cars we drive, does not mean we don’t have commonalities.

In order to produce real change we have to understand that perhaps one person might want the basketball courts reestablished at Memorial Park and another wants more low-income options for summer activities, but together they both want the same thing: a safe space for the next generation to learn and grow.

By joining together over similar interests for common good, we can produce change. No matter who you are or where you live we all make up Williamsport, and we all want to see it thrive. Communicate with people who seem different from you, listen and absorb their ideas, share yours.

Regardless of how we decide we want to get there, we all want to get there. We all see the same sunset.

Sophie Herzing