I was born in Carlisle, in the old hospital down by Mooreland. I’m pretty unique in that regard, as I was born here and would consider myself a native, but my parents aren’t from here. My mom is from Michigan and my dad is from Brooklyn and they met in grad school at Notre Dame. They are both psychologists, and found jobs Dickinson, so they moved here to work together. I was born about 3 years after they moved here so it’s always been home to me even though it wasn’t home to my family. That has provided an interesting dynamic reflecting on the idea that we all feel at home in different places. I graduate this year from Carlisle High School and hope to attend Denison University, Kalamazoo College, St. Olaf, or American University next year to study a combination of Political Science and International Relations.
Living here my whole life, I’ve realized that Carlisle is a great place to grow up and raise a family. It’s big enough to not be uncomfortably small where you know every person you pass on the street, but it’s also small enough where you will most likely see someone you know. And there’s really this sense of community where everyone, no matter where you live in Carlisle, be it in the borough, or out in the suburbs, is part of this cohesive whole. The community as a whole seems to be very passionate about itself – there always is support for Carlisle through high school sports and the various town events like First Night, the Amani Festival, and Harvest of the Arts. Overall, I feel like people really love to be a part of their community here in Carlisle and that’s something I really appreciate.
When I’m not busy organizing a rally with my friends, I love to hit up the local places to eat. There are so many great food options here in Carlisle. We also go to the diner all the time. Honestly, it’s never been for the food, but more so for the experience with my friends. We rarely are there before 10 pm, and it’s just a place where we can share time together as friends. I also love to be outside and venture to Hawk Watch or Opossum Lake frequently. Mostly, I just love to be wherever people are – I love to talk to people; having conversation with someone is one of the most beautiful and pure things we can do as a human beings. I think it’s so important that we connect face to face,
I love how racially and ethnically diverse Carlisle is. Unfortunately, there still tends to be moments of prejudice that show through. I have a memory that forever resonates with me – I was in 7th grade, walking home from school, and I witnessed a community member use a racial slur towards a kid who accidentally tripped and knocked over this person’s trash can. This definitely opened my eyes to the fact that even though we live in a great community, there’s still problems and tension.
One of the other big problems in our community are our elementary schools in that they are incredibly segregated in a lot of ways. For example, I went to Mooreland and there were probably three or four people of color in both of my classes combined, which is something that really troubled me. But as I got to high school, I noticed that even though there was still some segregation in our student body, it was much easier for people to meet other people of different backgrounds. And I think that transfers into other families meeting each other too. I believe that as a community, as people meet different people, it really helps to ease a lot of these tensions. People definitely have preconceived notions of other people, but when we come together to speak to each other, we realize that the fundamental thing is that we are all humans, and everyone realizes that on an emotional level.
However, I do think I’m more optimistic than most people about the future of our country. I think American democracy is still alive and well in our country.. I think it’s important that people continue to stay involved in the political process because apathy is the most dangerous component of democracy. We, as a country, need to figure out our place in the world and stop wavering between commitments and determine what’s important and not important. I definitely favor America having a large role in the world, but we need to be intelligent about what it is that we are doing. It’s important to be understanding and tolerant of everyone and their differences we need to heal the nasty, personal feelings involved with partisanship. Personally, I try to not change my relationships based on other’s political opinions. And that’s something that we as Americans struggle with. In all, I think we need to simply be calmer, happier, better listeners, and we absolutely need to make a conscious effort to ensure that our country continues to thrive.
Overall, I think just seeing people talking to one another has been one of the ways in which Carlisle has overcome some of its own challenges. But for its future, I would love to see Carlisle be more open and inclusive to others. I would love to see our community have equal playing fields both educationally and economically. And most importantly, I want people to spend more time outside with their neighbors, which is also of a national problem. People spend too much time isolated. I think it’s important for you to get to know your neighbors where you live, so you know the people in your community. People don’t get properly invested in the space in which they live because they think of their stay as only temporary. But I hope that people can take advantage of all the opportunities Carlisle has to offer, even if it’s only for a short time.
Nationally, I think we all just need to start listening to each other. I think we need to learn more about compromise and what that truly is. We need to stop being so fervent about everything we want and instead think about America as a country, where things tend to happen, slowly but surely. But in all, I really do think the strength of American democracy is its stability, which gives me hope for the future. – Aidan Checkett, Senior at Carlisle High School, Age 17