Terrorism. What does that mean? The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines terrorist acts as follows:

• Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law; and
• Appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.

This is what shook me the most when I heard the news about Paris - this could have easily been me. This could have been you. Thinking of all the concerts and sporting events I attend, I could have very easily been in their place. Imagine being at a concert for your favorite band, while your favorite song is being played, and you are with your loved ones. Then, all the sudden, your entire world changes. Guns are fired, bodies drop, blood is everywhere, and people are dead. I read a horrible account from a woman named Isobel Bowdery. She says,

Shocked and alone, I pretended to be dead for over an hour, lying among people who could see their loved ones motionless. Holding my breath, trying to not move, not cry - not giving those men the fear they longed to see. I was incredibly lucky to survive. But so many didn't. The people who had been there for the exact same reasons as I - to have a fun Friday night - were innocent.

I can't process this. How scared everyone must have felt. How desperately they must have wanted to be with loved ones. But my question is this: how do we stop it? How do we stop random people from walking up to me on the street today and shooting me dead because I appear to not believe in what they believe in? Guns will always exist in the world, no matter the laws to regulate them. Extremists groups will always exist, no matter if international coalitions work to combat them.

So how do we stay safe? How do we protect the innocent? I am afraid that the answer to this question in today's world is that there is no way.

One solution, however, is unity. I believe that the entire world needs to start paying attention to all human rights atrocities. Paris has the world's attention; now let's use this momentum. Let's never let another massacre like at Garissa College University or suicide bombings in Beirut simply be swept under the rug as a common occurrence in less-stable countries. Instead, let's take this attack on an ally to the U.S. as an opportunity to foster a sense of awareness. To challenge governments to take more action.

Standing in opposition to the attention Paris is getting does nothing but further divide the population that can make a change in this corrupt world. Instead, we should all mourn Paris, mourn the various attacks that have happened this week and year, and then move together in a kind and courteous way that educates the world. Living in darkness will not bring about change. However, education, hope, and love will bring light to these situations. Fred Rogers, from Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, said it best:

When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

Let us be helpers in this world. Let us move forward. Let us make a safer world for the generations to come. Let us love each other no matter our differences.