Mariner Pride

As I look out my window from the second floor of my home, I see the water. It has been there for millennia and it will be there for millennia after. It is the one constant in the ever-changing neighbor that is Joppatowne. My neighborhood is quite small, maybe 4,000 people at most. That is what makes the area unique; it is like one large family. The area of Joppatowne is defined by three distinctive characteristics: the land, the people, and the attitude that those people carry.

Joppatowne is its own little peninsula on the northern end of Harford County, making its people secluded from most of the other county. This seclusion leads to the feeling of isolation that brings the people of Joppatowne together in almost a familial sense. Joppatowne is unlike most places in the country because it doesn’t just follow one kind of geographical stereotype. It has everything from mountains to plains, from wetlands to barren fields. That is what sets this area apart from most others in the state. Rumsey Island is the part of Joppatowne that I live in. It is an area of natural beauty unlike any other. As I enter the Island from Shore Bridge, the eyes are first met with a thick infection of cattails. The wetlands then open and you see a huge mansion, built in the early 1800s. The area is full of historical points that have stood for many years. The wetlands in the area are protected by the government and hence have been untouched for years. After I pass the mansion, the area opens, as if it were a turning the page in a novel. The neighborhood opens to waterfront townhomes on the left and single water-view homes on the right. As I drive around the neighborhood, there is ever-present distinction of pride in the land. Many people take care of the wetlands in their front and back yards. The water is always in view on the left hand side of the island. As I exit Rumsey Island and enter back into suburbia, you leave the wetlands and are met with more concrete norms of suburban life. The geographical beauty of Joppatowne and more specifically, Rumsey Island is unmatched by most neighborhoods in Maryland. The fact that Joppatowne is defined by its geographical boundaries that offset it from the rest of its county, leave the people that inhabit it with a sense of connectedness within its community.

Although there is a wide range of people that inhabit Joppatowne, the people tend to always get along. There is barely any hostility between people. Even if people do not know each other they show a sense of friendliness in that people will hold conversations with strangers and are always open to meeting new people. On any given Sunday morning while walking through the grocery store, the very routine trip could be elongated by a conversation with a coach or a neighbor. The area is so close-knit that everyone knows everyone by name. On that same Sunday morning, as I chat with a friend many people will pass by that know me by name. In addition to seclusion that the land provides, the people of Joppatowne have established connectedness with one another. Most families are in tune with everything that happens within the community and they strive to make the area a better place for everyone in it. People in Joppatowne tend to look out for each other and have one another’s back, which gives the sense of familial love within a community. Growing up in Joppatowne has given me a place I can hang my hat on and trace my values back to. Being raised in such a close-knit community in which people are so closely connected, has molded the type of person I am when it comes to the type of relationship I make with others.

People of Joppatowne are always optimistic, through even the worst of times, which has taught me to always look at the glass as half full in any situation. They are also very proud people, taking pride in their community and holding its reputation in high regards. Sometimes Joppatowne is looked down upon by the rest of the county, for superficial reasons such as bad test grades from our schools or a heightened crime rate in our community. But the area is not as bad as it is portrayed in the minds of others. The people within the community generally seem to be optimistic about the area they live. In 2003, a hurricane destroyed a lot of the property in Joppatowne. Against all odds, people stuck together to help rebuild the community rather than watch it crumble under stress. It is a testament to the character of our community that through hard times, the people stuck together to bring the community out of the rubble. You will most likely never see a person from Joppatowne with their head down; in general as a community, we see the glass as always half full.

A community is a combination of many things, from the people that inhabit it to the land itself that the community lies on. Joppatowne is molded by not only its geographical landscape, but the people that live there and the attitude that those people hold. The seclusion that the peninsula provides for the community and the close-knit atmosphere within the people give the community of sense of family. That sense of family has been instilled in me and even now that I am out of Joppatowne the values the community has taught me still mold the way I interact with people today.