I am a senior journalism major and former editor of The Oakland Post who is now working as a communication coordinator for Pontiac through my internship. 

We’ve been at the internship since the beginning of the summer. Since that time, we’ve put out one newsletter, The Spirit of Pontiac, that was a collaborative effort between three of us interns, three dedicated OU journalism professors and Mayor Deirdre Waterman. 

I was assigned a story about the Canvas Pontiac arts contest as well as putting together an arts calendar for arts and other cultural events happening in the city. Michael McGuinness, chair of the Pontiac Arts Commission and a former student body president at OU, helped me to put the calendar together. 

For this next newsletter, which is due out in mid-October, I’m writing stories regarding the 15 new businesses that recently debuted downtown, new vacant lot strategies being seen in the city and another arts calendar. 

In working on these new stories, I’ve learned about the people in the city who are taking charge of bettering their own community. I’ve heard stories of residents weeding, planting flowers and changing burned-out light bulbs on Saginaw Street because they want it to look nicer. I’ve heard stories about the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office responding to 911 calls with speed and care when problems arise downtown. But most importantly, I’ve heard stories of residents’ visions for what Pontiac could look like in years to come, which is an attitude towards the city that has been missing since Arts Beats & Eats left in 2008. 

There is a sense of creativity and optimism in the city again.

OU students sometimes complain that Rochester isn’t a college town and that they aren’t getting an authentic college experience because of it. I think that if the new Pontiac business owners, residents and the mayor’s office continue to grow and clean up some of the image problems that the city has had in the past, Pontiac could be that “college town” for OU students, just a few miles down University Drive.