March for our Lives essay

Annabel Maguire

I was unnerved by the deaths of the 17 children in Florida. This was the first time I felt an emotional connection to a school shooting, the first time I imagined my own life to be at risk, and the first time I realized that this event could happen at my school. As I looked around at our campus I realized how unprepared we would be if a event like this ever happened. I began participating in school walkouts and discussions because I wanted to hear other people’s perspectives on the issue of gun violence. This led me to start asking bigger questions, like why haven’t we outlawed more dangerous types of guns? How can I remain silent as my generation is killed because people are afraid of the change that is coming? Why should someone be able to get the resource to hurt so many people at the same age they are given a chance to vote? I will not stay silent, as so many others have done before. My generation may not be able to vote, but we will not be quiet. Our freedom of speech will encourage us to alert those who can vote of the problems we feel need to change. 

Discussion with friends and talks with adults,  is shaping and changing my perspective on guns and violence. I want to participate in the national movement and conversation because it is important to me to educate myself on this issue I am passionate about. It’s easy to be passionate about an issue without understanding it. I hope that participating in the march will give me a better understanding of how I can help both at my school and nationally. I want to represent students who have been dismissed as ignorant or told they are “too young to understand”. By coming together with many other young, intellectual activists who want to take action to change our world, I believe we can be heard.