And coming into the class when we came back to school and seeing her desk empty, it just pushes you and you come home to, “Okay, what can we do? What can we do so another student doesn’t have to walk into their class and see it desk empty because of a shooting?” On responsibility to advocate for classmates who diedĪlyssa Alhadeff, she was in my math class, and she passed away. And again, it was just a very natural process. We went to Tallahassee to lobby legislators. And right after that, it all seems like it was just a couple weeks that this movement really started. So I incorporated that when I was writing my experience, and a lot of news outlets then made into editorial and it got shared in so many places. And since I had to debate that topic of universal background checks for guns in December, I had a sense of responsibility kind of to share my knowledge that I had gained, to share with other people. So I started writing about my experience. It’s just unimaginable.Īfter the shooting, I needed to cope in a certain way. ![]() And it was just extremely … It’s hard to put in words how I felt that day just because after going to the same place where you learn and then that turning into a crime scene and people who are … One of my friends, they were taking a test, and actually they were writing an essay, and then I say turned into someone being dead at their own desk. And I was continuing to get texts from my family and friends, even numbers I didn’t even know saying, “Are you okay?”Īnd I saw the community come together that day, just strangers helping strangers, like the coolest kids helping kids who they would never touch or would never want to talk to. ![]() And then when it’s 17 dead, it’s just, it’s uncomprehendible. But once I looked at the TV and CNN and Fox, all of the major news outlets were saying first it was five dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and then 10 dead. So we keep running and we go to a local store, local restaurant, and we turn on the TV and it all still felt like I was in a dream. It’s just extremely difficult, especially when you’re also getting texts making sure that your friends are okay. And we got to Walmart and we thought we were going to be okay because it should be over by then and then all of a sudden the police say, “We don’t know where the shooter is, keep running.” And it’s just after going through running behind the middle school, trying to escape what happened and then thinking you’re safe and then realizing you’re not safe. So we ran behind the middle school and to a local store, just we went to Walmart. We just have to get out of the area and run as fast as we can.Īdministrators started running towards us, and police in SWAT gear starting to run towards us, and they just kept screaming, “Run, run, run.” So the middle school is right next to our high school. And that’s when we realized … It was very surreal, but that’s when we realized we’re in a shooting and I just went into survival mode. It’s going to be fine.”Īnd then all of a sudden we see a police car driving on our baseball field going extremely fast and with their sirens on and it seems like all at the same moment we get text messages from our friends who are in the building where the shooting was occurring and saying, “My friend just got shot,” and seeing videos on Snapchat of our friends getting shot at. ![]() So we all look at each other like, “Okay, that must not be what we think it is. And then, all of a sudden, we hear five noises and we think it’s gunshots, but it’s Parkland and we always joke that nothing happens in Parkland because a quiet, safe town. The fire alarm goes off again, and we are now a little uneasy just because why would we have to fire drills in a row? But again, we just went outside where you stood in the zone that we had to be in. We had a test the next day, so we’re all worried about that.Īnd then I go to fourth period and I’m in my debate class, it’s more of a relaxed class. And then I take my Spanish test in third period, go to lunch, talking with my friends. I have a Spanish test that day, so I’m starting with my friends a little nervous and then in second period a fire drill goes off and we were all a little aware just because we normally don’t have it that early in the morning, but we just went back to class. So February 14th, it was Valentine’s Day, and just like any other day, my mom dropped me off before school and I said, “Pick me up at this time,” not thinking anything would happen. The conversation has been edited for readability and clarity.
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