Disclaimer: if you are not liberal or agree with liberal policies, you will most likely not enjoy this article. So get out of here.

I have just about had it with America. How can we call it the land of the free when so many of its citizens are oppressed? How can we call it the land of the free when children are being shot down and murdered for going to school every couple months. How can we call it the land of the free if we refuse to take in refugees?

In light of what has happened this past Valentine's Day, I've started to really contemplate what kind of country I am living in. As I'm sure most of you have, I found myself in a deep pit of depression on Friday afternoon after reading articles, watching videos of parent-child reunions, and seeing terrifying Snapchat video footage of children dead and injured in their classrooms. I could not think of anything else all day. My focus was off and my head and heart just kept coming back to the kids who will forever remember fleeing the school, running over their classmates' bodies. For some reason, this shooting had an effect on me I couldn't explain.

I have come to realize that the reason this shooting, in particular, had such an effect on me was that I just graduated. That could have easily happened to me at my old high school. It still could happen in college. I thought about what I would say in a last text or call and an overwhelming sadness came over me. The screenshots of students texting their parents what they thought would be their last words have sat with me for a week now. It also affected me because I saw what some Republicans were saying. One even went as far as to accuse some of the survivors of being paid actors.

No child should have to be frightened to go to school and no child should have access to an assault rifle. No child should have to look into a camera on the day their teachers and students died and BEG our president and congressmen to take action.

It got me thinking about the climate of our country in general. Racism, sexism, violence, people have been fighting these awful oppressors for years and years and yet look where we are. Students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas took buses to Tallahassee to speak to lawmakers about changing the law regarding gun control and before they even got there, the Florida lawmakers voted down the bill to ban assault rifles. Without giving the hundreds of kids who traveled seven hours a chance to persuade them.

What these kids are doing now, creating a March on Washington, talking to the press, tweeting at public figures for only giving "thoughts and prayers", is more than any of these adults could or would do to change an issue they cared about. A revolution is among us. This generation is coming for Republicans. We have had it with the violence, selfishness, racism, and sexism in this country.

When your children act like leaders and your leaders act like children, you know change is coming.
— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) February">https://twitter.com/Mikel_Jollett/status/965622985... 19, 2018

This tweet really resonated with me. It is childish to say that the issue at hand is solely a mental health issue. It is childish to blame the victims instead of blaming the NRA and the politicians who profit from them. It is childish to think that thoughts and prayers will comfort families who lost someone to an unnecessary, deadly rifle. It is childish to look away when the masses are running to you for help and change.

Childish was truly the best way to describe our president and the lawmakers who agree with him.

I feel lost, but I also feel hopeful. I don't know what will happen in the future. I don't know if the wage gap will exist in a few years. I don't know if prejudice against black men and women will ever cease. I don't know if school shootings will still occur. But the kids of my generation and those younger give me hope.

I live in an America where as a woman, I have to carry pepper spray in my purse on a night out. Why? Because no one teaches boys not to rape but we teach girls to dress less-slutty and protect themselves; do things differently. I live in an America where going to school is considered dangerous. Why? Because no Republican lawmaker could stand to lose a couple thousand dollars from the NRA, so they allow assault rifles to be owned legally LETTING school massacres to happen. I live in an America where gay, lesbian, and transgender people are still bullied online. Why? Because of ignorance being tolerated for too long.

Not anymore. #NeverAgain

Our generation is on the rise and finally found the voice to start changing the climate of our country. Use your right to vote, write your opinions online, help campaign for political candidates you support, share your stories of bullying or assault with other survivors. Fight for a country you WANT to live in. I know I will.