Recent terror attacks have occurred, as many of you may know, in Baghdad, Bangladesh, Istanbul, and closer to home in Orlando. But now France has been attacked.
When you hear about France, you instantly think about the beauty and romance found within Paris and its surrounding cities. You think of the fresh European air and an atmosphere that is far from equivalent to that of America. What surely doesn't come to mind is mourning, death, and terror. I'm not the first to say it: what is this world coming to?
This past Thursday, July 14th was France's annual Bastille Day. An important day for the French, Bastille Day commemorates the beginning of the 1789 French Revolution. It also serves as a celebration for French unity; as important as our Independence Day, but overlooked by Americans. Hundreds of excited French families swarmed the streets of Nice in preparation for the festivities. Upon leaving their houses, not one of them knew how their day (or life, for that matter) would end. Little did they, or the rest of the world, know that terror was about to attack again.
Unpredictability: one of the scariest aspects of terrorism.
As the news reported, a large trunk drove ruthlessly through the crowd, killing 84 people. According to CNN, ten of those were unsuspecting children with their entire lives left to live. The tally of injured individuals is at 202.
At this point, what can we do? Do we hide and await the next attack? Do we ready up our army to fight this elusive target?
Who am I, an 18-year-old college student, to report on this event, when I have never even been to Nice? I'll answer that for you in as few words as possible: I am an American. I live in this world. And I am scared.
Until the Orlando nightclub shooting, terror attacks hadn't directly caused an uproar in the United States recently. But now, the world is involved. We are one. So, what can we do? First we begin to regain our strength. Now is the time for mourning those who were killed at the hands of terror. Remember, the sun shines after terror attacks. This may seem like a feeble attempt at optimism, and it is. Feeble is all I have right now. I am so scared for this world and what it is coming to.
I have to admit that I am not someone who watches the news daily. The majority of my current events comes from Twitter or Facebook. Like I said, I am still someone living on Earth. I like to believe that eventually something will be done and terrorism as a whole will be eradicated. It isn't as easy as counting to three and snapping your fingers.
I am everywhere and I am nowhere. My impact on this world is slight, but I am Orlando.
I am Paris.
I am Brussels.
I am Nice.
I am scared, but I am one out of a million, and I am calling on the rest of you to make this world a better, safer place.
All opinions are my own. All facts about the attack were provided by http://cnn.com.
Photographs courtesy of Missy Hill.
