A Year Later.
Last week was the one year anniversary of the tragic mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Let's bring it all the way back to the day it happened. It was Valentine's Day. My student government association at my high school, which is about 10 minutes away from Douglas, had been up all night preparing little hearts and goodies to make the day more special and spirited for the students. Students began pouring into the front doors and the day continued as a normal day.
I remember being in my AP Human Geography class when the girl next to me opened a snap chat from one of her soccer friends. The snap chat blared throughout the class, on accident, and she became flustered as she tried to lower the volume. She was so worried about lowering the volume that she did not realize what the snap chat actually showed her: her friend from soccer was hiding under a desk, fearing for her life, as a school shooter walked closer and closer to her classroom door. Shortly after that, more and more student's phones were blowing up with messages and calls with the devastating news. Our school immediately went on lockdown, as it continued to do almost everyday for a month following the shooting. Having been so close to Douglas, and having mutual friends and family in our community that were personally impacted by what happened, I really got to experience first hand the aftermath of the shooting.
Before this happened, I can honestly tell you that I could not care less about politics. I did not have an opinion and never even watched the news. After Douglas, I immediately became immersed in a political movement that was made up of walk-outs, speeches, and reform. I watched friends of mine travel with the "March for Our Lives" movement and devote their time to change gun control laws and school security.
A year later, it saddens me that many of the people who dedicated so much of their time and effort to change feel as if they failed. For me, I look at it in a completely different light. I saw an infinite amount of people, including myself, become politically active that day. I saw young people, a whole community, come together and become passionate about a common cause. The fact that the Parkland shooting is still in the news a year later gives me hope in American democracy and the power of the people.
Let's bring it all the way back to the day it happened. It was Valentine's Day. My student government association at my high school, which is about 10 minutes away from Douglas, had been up all night preparing little hearts and goodies to make the day more special and spirited for the students. Students began pouring into the front doors and the day continued as a normal day.
I remember being in my AP Human Geography class when the girl next to me opened a snap chat from one of her soccer friends. The snap chat blared throughout the class, on accident, and she became flustered as she tried to lower the volume. She was so worried about lowering the volume that she did not realize what the snap chat actually showed her: her friend from soccer was hiding under a desk, fearing for her life, as a school shooter walked closer and closer to her classroom door. Shortly after that, more and more student's phones were blowing up with messages and calls with the devastating news. Our school immediately went on lockdown, as it continued to do almost everyday for a month following the shooting. Having been so close to Douglas, and having mutual friends and family in our community that were personally impacted by what happened, I really got to experience first hand the aftermath of the shooting.
Before this happened, I can honestly tell you that I could not care less about politics. I did not have an opinion and never even watched the news. After Douglas, I immediately became immersed in a political movement that was made up of walk-outs, speeches, and reform. I watched friends of mine travel with the "March for Our Lives" movement and devote their time to change gun control laws and school security.
A year later, it saddens me that many of the people who dedicated so much of their time and effort to change feel as if they failed. For me, I look at it in a completely different light. I saw an infinite amount of people, including myself, become politically active that day. I saw young people, a whole community, come together and become passionate about a common cause. The fact that the Parkland shooting is still in the news a year later gives me hope in American democracy and the power of the people.
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