00:00When you wait for this day for your whole life, since you're in kindergarten, you just
00:04can't wait to graduate, and it felt so far away for such a long time, but now it's here
00:09and you're ready.
00:10But I think we can't forget about that there is a whole chunk of our class missing.
00:15And so going into graduation, we all have very mixed emotions, trying to be excited
00:19for ourselves and this accomplishment that we've worked so hard for.
00:23But also those who aren't able to share it with us who should have been able to.
00:27The shooting was kind of like our most core memory growing up, and I think that took away
00:34a lot of the joy that we could have experienced when we were six years old.
00:41And I can't really remember many times before the shooting.
00:46So in that sense, it really did take over those really innocent times, and it really
00:52forced us to grow up so fast when we didn't need to.
00:56The shooter actually came into my classroom, so I had to watch all my friends and teachers
01:02get killed, and I had to run for my life at six years old.
01:08And I know that was really traumatizing for me, and just growing up with having the fear
01:15and the what-ifs of what could have happened if I stayed, because I was going to be next,
01:21but there was a split second where a kid decided to say run, and we did, we ran.
01:28And just growing up with those memories of seeing your friends and teachers dying is
01:36not something anyone wants to live with, no matter what age.
01:39The what-ifs kind of spoil a lot of precious moments, just because you always remember
01:46that they're not there.
01:48So even going to prom, you think, well, what if they were my prom date?
01:54Or what if they were my significant other, or what if they were able to walk the stage
02:03with me, and who would I still be friends with now?
02:06I knew I wanted to do something more since I was younger, when the tragedy first happened.
02:12I wanted to turn such a terrible thing into something more, and that these children educators
02:20didn't die for nothing.
02:22Of course, it was awful what happened to them, and it should have never happened, but I think
02:26that for me, something bigger needed to come out of it, or else it would have been all
02:31for nothing.
02:32It's a way to feel like you're doing something, because we are.
02:36We're fighting for change, and we're really not going to stop until we get it.
02:40The Sandy Hook will always be with me, and I will, of course, share my story.
02:44Even though we are missing such a big chunk of our class, like Lily said, we are still
02:51graduating, and we want to be those regular teenagers who walk across that stage that
02:56day and feel that celebratory feeling in ourselves, knowing that we've come this far.
Comments