I’m writing with gratitude and respect for Amanda Przybyszewski’s  My Turn, “Cheers for North Rowan Cheerleaders,” published Dec. 12.  In questioning her initial judgments at a local high school basketball game, she offers us lessons in humility and courage. Generously, she shares what she learned about herself and others — and why it matters to us all.

There’s hope in questioning our judgments: hope for ourselves, our communities, and our divided nation. Everyone benefits when we enter new social territory, when we discover we can still grow, and when we choose connection despite our nation’s painful legacy of separation. Rather than play out our worn, destructive scripts we can question the source of our judgments. We can examine and refuse our misguided conclusions. We can engage and connect with people we judge to be “other” than ourselves. We can turn our judgments, and ourselves, around. Mrs. Przybszewski shows us the way.

— Susan Lee

Salisbury