On June 10, 2016 Christina Grimmie, a former contestant on "The Voice" who received third place, was shot and confirmed dead on Saturday, June 11. Grimmie was shot by 27-year-old Kevin James Loibl while signing autographs after her concert at The Plaza Live in Orlando, Florida. Loibl shot himself after Grimmie's brother tackled him to the ground.

On June 12, 2016 one of the worst mass shootings in U.S. history occurred at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Florida. The shooter, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, killed 49 people and wounded at least 53 others. Mateen was shot and killed by 5 a.m. in a gun fight against the police.

On June 14, 2016 a 2-year-old boy was playing in the lagoon at Walt Disney Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida when he was suddenly dragged away from his family by an alligator. A search and rescue party was formed to locate the toddler and 16 hours later his body was discovered—he was confirmed dead.

The common factor all these tragedies share is that they occurred in Florida. Another commonality between the incidents is that they happened at places/events that consist with celebration and enjoyment—a concert, a nightclub and Walt Disney World.

It's heartbreaking to think about the increase in casualties within the past few years, let alone this year with the Paris, Beirut and Russia terrorist attacks.

I'd like to refer to what President Barack Obama said regarding the Paris attacks, "This was an attack not just on Paris… not just on the people of France, but... on all of humanity and the universal values that we share." The Orlando shootings—in regards to both Christina Grimmie and the 49 lost souls—were an attack not just on a rising musician and the LGBTQ community, but an attack on you (all of us) as well.

It doesn't matter whether you're gay or straight (any sexual orientation), white or black (any race), or an ordinary person versus a celebrity. We're all simply human. Why does it matter what our sexual preference, the color of our skin or our social status is?

Many believe that the state of people's minds has improved drastically since hundreds of years ago; however, with the non-stop hate crimes and terrorism that continues to unleash itself it seems we have hundreds of years to go before we achieve harmony. The real question is, can we ever truly reach unity? All we can really do is stay strong and not let hate cloud our judgment.