In the wake of all this tragedy it is hard to find words to move forward. From the child in the gorilla habitat, the death of singer Christina Grimmie, to the horrors at the Orlando nightclub. Like many others, my heart breaks for those families and the pain that they are going through.

These tragedies have shocked us all. Back in November when Twitter began blowing up with the news of the Paris Attacks, it was my job to report it back to my college's community. I spent all night on my computer trying to give the most accurate facts that I could to my fellow students. I remember the Denny's waiter looking at me strangely when I barely heard him ask for my order, my friends had to shut my laptop to get my attention. I felt helpless. I was on the other side of the world and the only thing I could do was report.

On April 2nd, I woke to a message from my friend that war had restarted between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the territory of Nagorno-Karabakh. I found her later crying in the dining hall and the only thing I could do was try to calm her down. Armenia is her home but she was stuck in Pennsylvania and couldn't do anything but sit and wait.

I'm not here to weigh in on any political conversation. Guns or no guns, borders, religion, LGBTQ+, I am not here to make my stance on any of these issues. I have my opinions and others have theirs and that is their right. I am not here to tell anyone what is right or wrong. What I am here for is to call for a change.

Whatever your opinion is, the fact of the matter is that people are dead. People that should have died from illness or old age, young people that should have grown up to become doctors, teachers, lawyers, and even politicians. These were mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters whatever their beliefs were. These lives are now gone with their families left behind to figure out their funerals, to shut the doors on their bedrooms, to look at their pictures and try to be strong when all they really want to do is close the door and break down. The hurt extends past the death of one person, it reaches out to their families who wonder what to do with their stuff, their friends who scroll through their last text messages, their co-wokers who stare at the empty spots where they once stood, and even to the bus driver who used to wave at them everyday because they always had the best smile.

This has got to stop. These tragedies have got to stop. It is time to start making a change to make the world a different place. I don't care if you hate the LGBTQ+ community, I don't care if you are the coordinator to pro-gun rallies, and I don't care if you are a radical in your religion and hate others because of it. What I'm asking you to do, what I'm pleading you to do, is to look at your mother, your father, your wife, your husband, your kids, your sister, your brother, whoever it is in this life that you avidly fight for and I want to ask you. What world do you want for them?

Do you want them to walk down the street fearing dark corners? Do you want them to be terrified to go out with friends? Do you want them to be so terrified of the unknown that it keeps them from doing the things that they love?

I once read an essay in my English class called "September 11th--a National Tragedy?" by James Peck. Peck called into question the understanding of the word "tragedy", "In its classical form, tragedy oscillates between a protagonist caught in an unlivable situation and a chorus who collectively responds to his or her anguish. While it does not celebrate or fetishize pain, it places hope in the belief that pain can catalyze insight". Peck goes on to talk about how in the wake of 9/11 we, as the general community, needed to mourn, keep the outrage against these acts, and then finally do something to change it. We need to face why this happened and do something to prevent it from happening again.

All across my Facebook news feed I see the posts, the changing of profile pictures, the brief political debates and then a week later it's gone. The conversation stops.

We need to keep the conversation going. We need to figure out a way to make a change. So here is my challenge to my friends, family, readers, coworkers. To all of you.

I challenge you to become educated. I want you to read both sides of an argument, do your homework, find out the facts. I don't care which side you choose but you should have an education about both. Learn to listen to those who don't agree with you and find out why. Odds are you aren't going to change the opinion of your 80 year old grandmother but find out why she has that opinion. Learn how to educate without sounding superior. Have real conversations about the world around you. The world is a whole lot bigger than your newsfeed. Don't ignore the political conversations and don't forget that what you do can have a bigger impact than you may realize.

So go, discover the world, ask questions, learn the facts, and while you are out there you might just end up changing it for the better. Good luck.