I grew up in Dundalk. I’m the third generation of my family to call this community home.

My grandfather, Edward McDowell, worked at and retired from Western Electric. My other grandfather, Roy Shepherd, retired from Bethlehem Steel. My father worked in the transportation industry as a truck driver, dispatcher, and ship boarding agent. If it had to do with cargo and getting it where it needed to go, he knew how to do it.

My mother worked for more than 35 years at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Even with all the government red tape that came with the job, she cared deeply about helping the veterans she worked with.

Outside of work, my parents served their community through the Loyal Order of Moose, working locally and regionally to support the children of Mooseheart and the seniors of Moosehaven.

My childhood was filled with my parents coaching soccer and baseball, sometimes even for teams I was not on, helping run the rec council, organizing bull and oyster roasts, and doing countless other things I probably never even noticed at the time. This is where I learned what community service looked like.

In 2020, I bought my childhood home from my parents. It made sense. The cost was right, the location was close to work, close to Ravens games, and close to everything I knew.

But for too long, I have heard people talk down about Dundalk, Essex, and the rest of District 6. It is easy for outsiders to make jokes about our communities, but they do not know us. District 6 is home to roughly 129,000 people, with history going back to the War of 1812 and before, waterfront communities built around fishing and boating, hardworking people who know how to enjoy life when they are off the clock, and families who have been here for generations.

There is a reason we are still here.

We know what this community is, and we know what it can be.

Now it is time to stop letting other people define District 6 — and start showing the rest of Maryland how great we are.