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I love Baton Rouge. As I've said before, I have no intentions of leaving. I feel that while the city lacks a lot of things, I have the control over what my future will be, and what my children's future will be (at this point the children are hypothetical. Friends and family, you can start breathing again.) I am willing to travel to make sure my children experience what they cannot here. And that is what I intend to do if Baton Rouge doesn’t improve; travel, then return to my happy home here in BR.

I have every intention of raising my children to be open-minded, independent thinkers, just as I was raised. And that can be done, and was done with me, right here in Baton Rouge. I refuse to spawn more narrow-minded, intolerant, elitist people to populate this city. So you scoff and judge, saying intolerance is not a big deal in Baton Rouge? Oh, on the contrary, it is quite a big deal. And I'm not just talking about racial, gender or sexual orientation intolerance. But feel free to read all about those topics here in the most recent issue of Business Report.

Intolerance is one of the biggest frustrations I deal with on a regular basis. It even drives me to question why I stay. I've experienced it in various facets throughout my life. Many people may write it off as snobbiness, but it is a form of intolerance, and frankly, I've had my fill. While you cannot ever shelter yourself or your children from being treated a certain way, you can make sure you don't treat people that way. Lead by example. Why do you think so many younger people fleeing our city? We are not showing them anything they want to be a part of, and we consistently reject changes they might like. While I am willing to use intolerance as a point of reference to change my life, not everyone lives by the "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" motto.

For starters, let's find some organizations that are more community driven than socially driven. I understand that there are several organizations that are seriously concerned about the betterment of our community. I am involved with a couple organizations, and I can tell you the few of those that are actually willing to make a difference are far more organized, successful and fulfilling. I get involved because I want to make a difference while I have an opportunity to, which I'm starting to think is certainly not the norm. I don't get involved to network, or make friends, or meet a mate. While those might be valid reasons for many who participate in organizations, it’s not what it takes to make the city better. If you have yet to join an organization, committee, etc. that is focused on making an impact in the lives of others, you should try it. Find a group or issue you feel you can contribute to, and become passionate and committed to it. It may humble you and make you a stronger person. The more strong, humble people we have that are willing to impact lives, the better our city will be. Let's make it less about who you know, and more about what you're willing to do.

And stop with all the judgment. The virtual caste system that we live in needs to be broken down. So what if someone doesn't have as much money as you, doesn't have important connections, or doesn't have an old Baton Rouge family name? I keep waiting for this high school behavior to end, but I’ve been disappointed to see it every single day.

We shouldn’t criticize people with valid reasons to leave our city. We can remind them of reasons not to, and hope they won’t (especially the young and talented ones—you know who you are). I know this might sound like a no brainer, but I've recently realized that just because I want to stay here, it doesn't mean that it is the best place for everyone else. We should listen to their ideas and embrace their contributions while they’re here. It’s time we embrace the ideas of newcomers as well as our native residents who leave.

It's going to take a lot of work to make the city better, but this is a good start. I realize that a lot of you may think, ‘oh this girl talks a good game.’ But I refuse to suggest others do something I'm not willing to do myself. So, what about you?