It's not often that I am left without words to express at least a vague idea of what I am thinking or feeling, but in the wake of the Manhattan killings, I am, indeed, speechless.

After almost 19 years of life, I could look back on all of the positives, all of the achievement I, personally, have reached. Yet, the news is filled to the brim with violence, pain, and general human suffering. What confounds me the most, however, is not the weather reports that state another hurricane is on the way to plow through another city, another town, another life. No, what leaves me so utterly lost is that, if it isn't an external force that hurts humanity, we do it to ourselves. Shootings, acts of terror, murder, and the list of horrors can go on and on into infinity.

We hurt one another, and are hurt by others constantly. Not a day goes by where the news does not have a story about a family torn apart by violence, or having to reflect on an anniversary of past events that, for all intents and purposes, are horrible.

Of course, there are several moments in history that stand out the most: the September 11 terrorist attacks, shootings in Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, and Orlando, and too many wars to list all come to mind. You can go to any adult, and they will tell you where they were when the Twin Towers fell, and older generations remember John F. Kennedy's assassination and Pearl Harbor.

When I was in middle school, I remember one of my history teachers lecturing us, telling the class that every generation has their "moment" of tragedy. These moments are the makings of history and define the generation based on their reaction. The older I grow, the more I fear what this generation's "moment" will be. With each shooting, each terrorist attack, each moment of loss plastered across news outlets, I'm left wondering when our "moment" will come, and just how devastating it will become. Just how many lives will be lost in a tragedy that will befall us, and just how far will it stretch.

If a driver in Manhattan can kill innocents on the street, a man can shoot at people enjoying a concert in Las Vegas, and our society makes the only move of tweeting about political policy and changes that should be implemented instead of taking the steps forward to prevent the next loss, then how can we possibly expect anything to get better? How many lives will be lost before a stand is made against the violence?

Each day brings a new wake up call for change, for people to look up and see what we are doing to one another. The hate and violence will continue to stack up and infect our society, as it already has.

Too many people are busy worrying about whether or not Kylie Jenner is pregnant to see the real problems at hand. For the sake of the masses, we need to make a stand and make waves for change, before more innocent lives are taken away before their time.