Well, today is Valentine’s day. When I was younger, when I was in middle school or high school, I looked forward to every Valentine’s Day. I did not have a boyfriend then, but there was something magical about this love holiday. This magic is called romance. I dreamed of having the perfect romantic encounter on Valentine’s day. I thought the world would be perfect, but as I matured and grew up, Valentine’s day became less and less exciting. Now, it is just another day. Life keeps going and I don’t have time to stand there for hours to wait for the romantic encounters in my dream. I ended up giving my best friend a white rose that a school organization gave out. Valentine’s day no longer means that much to me. I am not sure if this is good or bad. The romantic side of me kind of just decided to just chill this Valentine’s day. I’ve had four classes today and I was mainly focused on myself instead of what is around me. But, nonetheless, seeing all the love did make me happy.

In the afternoon, after my best friend and I had treated ourselves to a nice dinner, the news of a school shooting in Florida caught our attention. On this day of love, there are people suffering and that completely took my joy away. My friends and I have looked up the numbers of school shootings that happened this year and the number was 17 school shootings. 17 already and it is only February. I was shocked. I didn't know what to make of this information. What is happening to us? Are any of us safe? Why does this keep happening? What can we do about it? I have thought about this long and hard and I don’t know the answer of any of them. One thing I do know is that school is supposed to be a safe place. We need to do something to keep this from happening.