In the past two years, the world has been no stranger to tragedy. And yet amongst the most tragic of events, December 14 will remain one of the most unforgettable.  

It was two years ago this past Sunday that a gunman opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. During his rampage, he killed 20 first-graders and six school employees before killing himself.  

Think of yourself in first grade. With dreams of being a princess or an astronaut, the possibilities were endless and your imagination ran wild. And yet these 20 students won’t get to experience high school graduations, landing their dream job, or even a walk down the aisle. Instead, these 20 innocent lives were cut short.  

The Sandy Hook community decided to skip the public memorial, and instead make the 26th a day for personal remembrance and mourning. At the town church, the victims’ names were read aloud as bells resounded through the town. 

Meanwhile, town officials have started plans for both the creation of a permanent memorial and a new elementary school, after the old one was demolished after the shooting. The house of the shooter has been possessed by the town, who will decide in the near future what action to take with it. 

Disappointed with a lack of initiative by the government for increased gun control, a number of the families who lost their loved ones have established Sandy Hook Promise. The organization’s mission statement, which appears on their website, promises to “honor all victims of gun violence by turning [their] tragedy into a moment of transformation.”     

Most recently, the organization has released a documentary giving viewers a chance to see and feel the grave and everlasting effects gun violence has on those affected by it. The organization hopes the documentary will urge citizens to pressure policy-makers to take more aggressive preventative actions against gun violence. 

It is so easy as a college student to focus on yourself and ignore the tragedies that are happening around us. But regardless of our ignorance, these tragedies seem to occur more and more, making it almost impossible to evade.   

Certainly finals can be a stressful time, and we often feel bombarded with pressures as the semester winds down. Yet, in the midst of finals and the chaos of the holiday season remains a town that will never be the same, families who will struggle to recover after their losses, and a country that will continue to work hard to protect the most innocent of lives.