Two weeks ago I uploaded a diary ranting about my school and how inconsiderate the school board was being towards us student, by not allowing us to have a voice. When I posted it I had no intention of doing a walk-out. But after many, many comments encouraging me to do it I decided to plan one.
Although that is only one small string of comments, those alone convinced me to do it. I guess I just needed a little bit of convincing. Once I started planning I knew there was no going back, and that was perfectly fine with me. I took to Instagram, posting everything on my story, from information about my walk-out to a poll seeing who would participate.
Everything was going great. Until I stopped for a minute to let it all sink in. Then I remembered that I had a trip to Washington D.C. in about a month. I realized if I got in trouble or suspended I would be risking losing the D.C. trip and my graduation ceremony, which is completely insane. I had to really think about following through with the walkout because I would be risking my trip and everyone else’s. Great.
I talked to my parents and we came up with a better solution. Do a silent peaceful protest during lunch, standing in a circle in silence for 17 minutes. We decided it would be the safest way to go. I would have been okay with a suspension, but I have been looking forward to this trip since pre-school. So, I took back to Instagram and alerted everyone about the new plans.
After the plans changed, more people started contacting me, wanting to participate. It was amazing to see more people step up and take part in this movement. Due to the short amount of time to plan, I was up late at night planning and answering the abundance of questions and adding people to the list of participants. It was amazing to see all of the support.
When it was finally Wednesday, I was so nervous and excited. I knew my language arts teacher had seen my diary and commented on it too. I knew she knew what I was going to do, but I didn’t know if she would try to stop me. Especially since a couple of my other teachers had tried to stop me, by attempting to talk me out of it. After her class, it was lunchtime. That meant it was time to collect everyone.
Five minutes into lunch I started to collect everyone and passed out 17 candles. I told everyone to bring as many people as they wanted. After everyone was ready to go we walked out to a grassy area in the middle of the lunch quad where we are not allowed to walk on as an act of civil disobedience. A yard-duty told us to get off the grass but left after she realized what we were doing. It started off with 25 of us standing on the grass, little did I know what was about to happen.
About two minutes in we had more people joining the circle. Five minutes in there were twenty more people. Eight minutes later there were sixty people. Ten minutes in there were 75 people. Fifteen minutes in there were 98 people, including my wonderful Language Arts teacher. If lunch had lasted just a few minutes later there could have easily had 100 people.
●The Evolution of a Revolution●
The small beginning group 98 beautiful human beings At the end of the silence which lasted for approximately 17 minutes, I gave a short speech. (I was slightly too emotional to see it through the entire speech.)"All around the country students are walking out today to protest the lack of laws that regulate firearms to keep our communities and schools safe. By partaking in these protests, we are sending a message to our government that enough is enough. We want gun violence regulations, and we want them now. Our goal is to show them that we are done with being ignored. Done with being discarded. Done with the violence. Done with the fear. We shouldn’t need to worry about our lives being on the line when we arrive at school for a long day of learning.
Since the adults have not been successful in taking a stand, it is now our turn. We can take a stand. And by being here today, we are taking a stand. So, I want to truly thank you for coming out to support the victims and their families of gun violence all around the country. I hope you all are inspired to stay involved and use your voice for what you believe in. Don’t let your age stop you from taking action, especially when the adults are to afraid to use theirs."
Not going to lie, I cried for like a solid ten minutes after the event. I got so much love and support throughout the entire event, especially at the end. I got attacked by everyone in a huge group hug. It's an amazing feeling, I can tell you that for a fact.
Rewind back to that morning when I woke up, my dad came in and delivered some great news. He informed me that our friend and journalist Jennifer Wadsworth wanted to upload my diary and letter to San Jose Inside, the online version of the Metro. I was so excited all day. She emailed us and asked me for a short bio for the article.
Fast-forward to the next day, Thursday. I was starting to calm down and gaining focus in class. And then I got a text from my dad during third period. I checked my phone after it went off to see a link from San Jose Inside. I immediately knew what it was. I opened the link to see my article. When I got home my friend and I went onto the article and scrolled through the comments. Some of them are so sad, it's funny. Here are a few:
Bearing? This one is my personal favorite, I like the one where we rely on science and what studies are showing, which computer model is that one again? Also, shoutout to Citisven for stopping by! 1 1 ...do you have a point? Sometimes I wonder what goes on in these peoples brains...do they even have brains?But regardless of the hate that I received, I did receive a ton of love and support. This has been a truly amazing experience.