This morning when I woke up, I didn't think that I'd end up standing in the face of a full grown man shouting slurs at me. And it wasn't just me. A large crowd had gathered to hear the sexist, racist, homophobic, etc. comments.

To give a bit of background, I walked into my first class, which was one in the afternoon. It was, ironically, "Diversity and Inclusion". My teacher walked in and talked about the protesters, but I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. She allowed us to go outside to watch it with the caveat that, when we came back in, we would have a discussion about what we had seen and heard. When we first got outside, a teacher was yelling to not give them attention, but the students were too intrigued by what was happening.

It started with one girl. She made a sign that said love and went to stand opposite them. It was a chain reaction after that. Students began to pour out to make posters, play loud music to drown out the hate, and sit down passively around them. I listened to what they said and just laughed at how ridiculously hateful it was. The hate reached its peak when one of the men pulled out a "Qur'an", started tearing out pages, and threw it on the ground. One student was overwhelmed and tried to surge through the crowd towards the man but was pulled away by students and teachers.

It was then that I began shaking I was so upset. I couldn't wrap my head around their hatred and bigotry. I understand that people retain the right to have their own opinion and the right to freedom of speech, but they used and abused those rights by infringing on everyone else's right to be loved.

I hadn't expected to see this at school, and I was shocked when it happened, but I was so proud of how the school handled it. Students peacefully counter protested in favor of love, the campus security kept students safe and calm, and there was ice cream.

At the end of the day, I was proud of how we handled it, but I was upset that it ever happened. Is it really so hard to love?