To the students of Stoneman Douglas High School,

I am so sorry. I am so sorry that you have experienced a tragedy so vast and so deliberate. I am sorry that you are the victims of a pain that no one should ever have to feel.

I can’t begin to understand the pain you are feeling right now. The tragedy through which you have suffered is one that no one should have ever had to experience. You have lost friends and family much too soon, and much too quickly. And you have lost the safe feeling that school should provide for you. Your lives are changed because of one person’s actions, in a way that will stick with you forever. I can’t pretend that I know what this feels like or pretend to understand what battles you are facing.

But I can relate to you on one level – I know what it is like to be in high school.

You are high school students with so much life ahead of you. You are confused and excited and ready to start your future. You are looking ahead with stars in your eyes. Keep looking ahead to your dreams. Allow yourself to keep at least a piece of the world that existed before this tragedy, because it is that hope that is going to be stronger than everything else in the world. The pain you are dealing with is immense, and anyone who wasn’t there won’t be able to understand that fully, but you can turn to each other and rely on each other to overcome this.

Take care of yourselves. The road ahead of you is long, but your journey does not end because of this. Focus on what you can control, and allow yourself to be okay with not being okay. You don’t have to be strong right now. I am here to be strong for you, and so is the rest of the world.

People care. We care about what happened to you, and we care about not wanting it to happen ever again. I stand with all of you as you battle to make change in this country. I stand with you as you are brave enough to take a stand and use your pain to influence positive change. I stand with you as you are incredibly strong, unwaveringly courageous, and inspiringly determined to bring about action.

And I stand with you when you are grieving the loss of those you love.

What you have endured cannot be put into words. I wish only that there was a way to go back in time to stop this from ever happening. I wish that there was something I could do. But know that I am here, pulling for you from afar, supporting you as you valiantly take on each day.

This world needs to change. Tragedies like this should never happen – schools should not be a dangerous place for kids. I am sorry that it has taken so long for our country to understand that. I hope that from this, there can be action to make the future a safer place.

I send you my thoughts and prayers, and I send you my promise to take action when given the opportunity. Until then, know that I am not alone when I say that you are all some of the strongest people I know, even if you don’t feel like it.

You are all incredibly loved.

Sincerely,

A college student who hopes that your courage brings about necessary change.