Writing in a World Filled with Tragedy

On November 14th, 2019 around 7:40 in the morning, I got a phone call from my Father, as I was on my way to Cal Poly Pomona. I could hear the distress in my Father’s voice and immediately knew something was terribly wrong. “There’s been a shooting at Saugus High School and Kaleigh is there,” he said. It felt like someone punched my stomach and I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t stop thinking about my Stepsister, my prior High School Teachers, my Soccer Coach, and the students at Saugus, that day. Luckily, my Stepsister was able to run out of the school, but my condolences go out to the parents and families who thought they were just dropping their kids off at school, only for it to turn into the worst day of their life. My heart was absolutely broken for the Saugus High School community. I never would have imagined something like this would happened to the High School that was home for me. From that day forward, I promised to write with purpose, and to write for change.

Gun violence, ignorance, and tragedy terrorizes the world daily. I write because I want to make a difference, and I want change. Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our dwellings, and afterwards our dwellings shape us.” There is no doubt that society contributes to tragic events, and because of the devastation it brings forth, it can affect us either in a negative or positive way. Chaos and distress will be in our lives whether we like it or not, and if we want to make a difference, then we must stand up for what we believe in. Tragedy for me, motivates me to write how I feel and what I want to change. Putting a pen to a piece of paper is therapy for our minds and is often needed. I learned that writing for change is powerful yet so beautiful. The sad fact is shootings are everywhere, and people have put in their minds that it’s just a “normal” occurrence at this point. I’m letting you know that it’s not. All I can do is vote and preach to future generations through verbal and written communications. I write for gun control and reform, and I write to help ease our minds in the midst of hardship.