A couple of months ago when I came home for spring break from college, I took some time to gather my thoughts on what has been going on in our world. I felt feelings of fear, but not only fear. I was frustrated that the world I live in has to undergo some of the worst tragedies we have seen.
Here's what I posted to my wall on Facebook.
Hey Facebook friends. As many of you know, I am generally not the person to post long rants on social media, but today is an exception. It would mean the world to me if you take the time to read.
As I sit down in my room at home, nothing comes to my mind but fear. Fear not only for my future but more importantly, fear of mine or a loved one's life being taken from me. But one may ask, why this is the case. Just a couple of hours ago, this fear instilled more than just being afraid, but anger. For so many years, we have been living this reality of knowing that our lives can be taken. But today is what really made me bring my anger together to be sitting here on my bed writing.
When I look at these past few years in our society as a whole, the idea of our own lives, a loved one, a friend, an acquaintance, an innocent one, and a person we hear about from our most convenient news source being taken from their family and their home has grown to be a social norm. That anger in me draws me to not only thinking, but knowing that these actions are absolutely unacceptable.
Today truly was the cherry on top for me. It hit me hard. As I park my car in the public parking lot in my town, my natural instinct is to open my snapchat notifications the second I park. I get a message from a good friend of mine asking if I heard about the gunmen at the Oaks Mall, just a half an hour away from my hometown. I replied that I hadn't heard, and immediately open up Safari to find that one had been killed and few injured due to a gunmen's actions. We have seen this last week in the Glendale Galleria, at its worst a few weeks back in Parkland, Florida, in Las Vegas, and the list goes on.
These actions have become so normalized in our society today. And in simple terms, this is not okay. So many innocent people, of all ages, have been taken away from those who love and care for them. This anger grows in me as I, and many around me, are living out their daily lives with fear instilled in them that their life can be taken away at any moment. The fact that I sit here in fear that if I leave my dorm room to go to class, and go on with my daily routine can be interrupted by a sick person at any instant.
But what has not become a social norm in our society is speaking out for what we believe in. Although this began with the National Walk out this past week, rallies across the country, and the upcoming March for our Lives this coming week, these have only been steps in the right directions but doesn't do wonders overnight. It's time that we make our voices heard because it is the current generation that are the ones to make the biggest impact.
Please, take a few minutes out of your day to join me in contacting your local representatives about gun control and educating yourself on what's happening in our world. These actions that have been done are affecting those who are innocent, simply cannot continue.
