Saturday, March 24, 2018, more than a million people gathered around the country to protest gun violence in one of the largest protests since the Vietnam War.

I was one of those people.

The protest is known as March For Our Lives, an initiative started by survivors of the school shooting that occurred this past Valentine's Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. The goal behind March For Our Lives is to work towards five things. These are universal, comprehensive background checks; a digitized, searchable database for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; funds for the Center for Disease Control to research the gun violence epidemic in America; a ban on high-capacity magazines; and a ban on assault weapons.

The primary March For Our Lives event, which cost around $5 million, occurred in Washington, D.C. on Pennsylvania Avenue, where anywhere between 200,000 and 800,000 people rallied. Hundreds of sister marches also took place across the United States. I participated in the one organized by UCF in Orlando, Florida, where attendance reached about 25,000 people at Lake Eola Park.

This was my very first march or protest of any kind and the idea of protesting something as dreadful as gun violence was daunting, to say the least. However, a friend that I attended with did quite a bit of research prior and we notified an emergency contact and agreed upon a safety plan that we would utilize if we were in danger or our lives were at risk.

One thing we didn't prepare for, however, was the size or weight of the signs we made. They had the tendency to not only hit other protesters in the face but also block all the signs around us. We stood by the message displayed on our signs, though, and we were glad to have gotten our message across. If you see any pictures of two massive black signs with white and red letters, that's us.

When the protest officially commenced, various speakers and performers graced the stage in the span of about an hour. We heard from Pulse survivors and the LGBTQ+ community, local politicians, and Parkland survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas who all expressed why they were there and why the message of March For Our Lives is an imperative one.

The march itself was extravagant and empowering. The crowd was filled with people of all ages and races, from babies and young children to people in wheelchairs. We were a sea of people and posters. Signs ranged from funny and clever to critical to angry. The chants we uttered were demanding and condemning. "Hey hey, ho ho, Rubio has got to go!" one said. "No more silence, end gun violence," another said. Walking that half-a-mile from Lake Eola, past Marco Rubio's office and city hall, to the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts felt like it took a century. Walking back felt like five minutes.

It goes without saying that the march was a lot to take in. When we returned, I was enamored and speechless but I felt powerful and purposeful. I had never experienced anything like this before. I had never felt so apart of something. I was sunburnt, my feet were blistered, and I was dehydrated but it was all more than worth it. Following the march, I am more determined now than ever to vote, make gun control happen, and do something to prevent gun violence from ripping apart any additional lives. This is not an issue of politics but an issue of human decency, compassion, and respect.

If you are interested in getting involved, register to vote, do your research and vote in the midterm elections on November 6. If you are unable to vote but still want to do something, contact your representatives, help someone register to vote, offer to give someone a ride to vote, or babysit for someone who wants to vote. Doing something is better than doing nothing. Make your voices heard!