Hearing the News...

When I heard about the shooting at Evergreen High School, my heart dropped. I didn’t know anyone there personally, but that didn’t seem to matter. The idea that students, kids like me, were just going about their day and then suddenly everything changed… it’s terrifying.

Ever since then, my anxiety has been worse. It’s hard to explain to people who haven’t grown up like this, but every time I hear about another school shooting, something inside me shifts. I start thinking, What if it happens here? What if today’s the day? It’s exhausting, carrying that kind of fear while trying to focus on school, friends, and the future.

Mentally, it’s draining. It feels like we’re all pretending everything is okay when it's not. We sit in class, but our minds wander. We walk through the halls wondering if we’d know what to do. We shouldn’t have to think about these things, we’re teenagers, not soldiers. But still, we do.

It makes me angry, honestly. Not just scared, but frustrated that we’ve gotten so used to this that it’s treated like a “normal” part of being in school. It’s not normal. The stress, the anxiety, the constant what ifs, that’s not how school is supposed to feel.

I wish more people realized that shootings don’t just hurt the victims and their families, they affect all of us. They mess with our mental health, they steal our peace of mind, and they make us question whether we’re really safe anywhere.

So yeah, hearing the news hit me hard. It always does. And I know I’m not the only one feeling this way. A lot of us are struggling quietly, trying to cope with something no one our age should ever have to process.