I’m done living in a world where I’m scared my parents aren’t going to come home at the end of the day. I’m done living in a world where I’m scared to go to school. I’m done living in fear. Life is too precious.

Watching the horrific tragedies such as Parkland and Pittsburgh occur has only proven why we need to take matters into our own hands. Our generation needs to fight for our future.

Whenever my mother calls me, and I don’t pick up, she worries that something has happened to me. I don’t want to live in a world where I’m scared to live my life.

I attend Benjamin N. Cardozo High School, a school having amazing academic programs and extracurriculars. There’s something about the school that people may not know. The students are sometimes terrified to step foot in the school. My school has received bomb threats from the very students that go to it. During one of the incidents, we stood outside of my school for two hours in the cold. No one would tell us what was going on, how long it would it be until we could go back into the school, or whether or not we would be able to go home.

Many other things happen in my school. For instance, last year, two girls were fighting over a boy. Now in my school, fights have gotten physical before, but these girls just took it to a whole new level by throwing bleach. One of the girls injured five people. The one thing, though, that I don’t understand is why. Why do something that will ruin your reputation and get you into trouble

I want to be able to go to school happily and without worry.

I want to live in a world where I am not afraid.

‍I want to live my life to the fullest. We need to take a stand, and we need to make a change, for our generation and the next. Let's make 2019 our year.