It’s strange how tragedy not only has the power to baffle the world but to put life into perspective as well. The past few weeks alone has been filled with natural disasters and senseless violence. I don’t think anyone can make sense of the terrors of the world and I’m sure that no one, no matter their credentials, will be able to pinpoint why a tragic event happens. I can’t even make sense of the violence within in the terms of my own life.

I’m not saying that I want to make tragedies about myself. I find it horrible when people use a tragic event to push a hidden agenda, project hate speech, or try to make themselves a victim. In my opinion, there’s no worse thing that a person could do in response to a crisis. I just try to make an effort to appreciate the people that I love and try to protrude kindness, despite the horrors that plague the world.

In the past two weeks, I had professors who told me that they worried about loved ones. One had friends who lived in Puerto Rico, and the other had family that lived in Las Vegas. There was a moment of silence where my students and I took a minute to feel relieved that our own loved ones were safe. We were all connected in a "thank goodness" type of moment. The silence was only broken when a classmate, who was unaware of the shooting, softly said, “My boy is in Vegas”.

I don't think my heart could have broken quicker. He said it so softly that I'm sure only the people surrounding him could have heard. I'm sure that his friend turned out to be okay. He showed up to class as chipper as possible at an 8 A.M., but I found it remarkable that I looked out for him. I'm sure that anyone who heard him has done the same. Humanity has a way to connect through a vast sense of sadness. I don't even know the guy's name; but through the common ground of love for a different set of friends, I began to worry about him.

Humility and empathy like this can make anyone realize that despite the horrors of the world there is always room for kindness. There might be predominant hate within the world, but I refuse to believe that it outnumbers the amount of love and kindness that sprinkles the Earth. I see empathy in the acts of moments of silence for the victims of the Las Vegas shooting, to the hurricane relief drives at my University and the constant prayers and kind thoughts to the victims and the victims' families. The only way to fight a tragedy is through empathy.

Thank goodness I didn't have a single person that I had to say goodbye to. I don't even know how I'd be able to pick up the pieces after a loss. There are people out in the world who didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to their loved ones. Some people had lost their chances to tell their families how much they meant to them and how much they are appreciated, loved, and supported. Parents had to bury their children this week. Children had to bury their parents. Friends had to say goodbye to other friends. But the world still spins, and it's our duty to live. We will live not only to despite the horrors but for the memory of the horrors as well.

Right now, you are alive. Your heart is beating, you are breathing, and you are thinking. You are loved. You have the keen ability to volunteer to help the people who are affected by the crisis. You are able to help out your neighbors of different borders and state lines, but above all, you have the ability to say that you love your family. You can also take a roommate or a friend aside and say that you love them and that they mean the world to you.

It's imperative because it's more than most can do right now.