March 31, 2017 marked the release of Netlfix's newest original series, 13 Reasons Why. Almost immediately, the internet blew up with support and love for the show. And, just like Liberty High School, my Facebook feed blew up with posts about being careful with what you say because you never know what other people are dealing with. It was like Facebook itself was suddenly hanging up suicide awareness posters all over everyone's timeline.

Don't get me wrong - it's amazing how many people have been moved by the show; it's amazing that people are starting to care about this issue. However, it's equally amazing that no one cared about 13 Reasons Why and its message until it became a Netflix series. Where was all this love and support in 2007 when Jay Asher's book was published?

That's right, folks. 13 Reasons Why had been a book for years before Netflix picked it up.

I remember reading the book on my own the summer before my junior year of high school (what an appropriate time, right?). I instantly fell in love with every word on every page; so much so that I read the whole thing in one night. Come junior year, my English class was assigned the book; holy crap was I excited to read this masterpiece all over again and have engaging conversations with my class about it.

Except...the book got nothing but hate from them.

I remember one classmate saying how Hannah was just whining; how it was wrong of her to place blame on others. I sat through that entire class in silent shock. Everyone thought the book was awful. Everyone hated the book and the fact it had been assigned to them. Meanwhile, I sat there slightly heartbroken at the fact I couldn't get a single word out to defend it.

Now, however, everyone loves 13 Reasons Why. Everyone's watching it and talking about it like Netlfix is so revolutionary for "creating" something like this.

So now I have to ask: what took so long? What made you wait until now to care about the issue? Do you even realize you're mirror images of the Liberty High students?