This Thursday will mark the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech shootings, where 32 people were killed, and numerous wounded. This will be one of the most memorable tragedies in my college career.
Shootings like this happen too frequently. From as early as middle school to college and universities, no place is safe from the potential of a mass killing spree.
Last Thursday, two teenagers were arrested on suspicion that they planned a shooting aat their high school in New Mexico. One of the suspects told his family about the potential shooting, making the family contact the authorities immediately. Fortunately for this phone call, untold lives were saved from misfortune.
Why these people would want to kill others in the first place? There is the obvious answer of insanity, but there has to be more behind the story than the person is mentally unstable.
Do people really know who the person is behind the shootings? We are so quick to label him or her as crazy we do not take time to figure out why these shootings happen. Perhaps the person is tired from being abused by bullies.
Recently, I read 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult. This book is about a shooting at a small-town high school. In the novel, no one imagines a misfortune this big could happen in a small town, as is often the case.
The suspect of the shootings is Peter, a boy who is constantly abused and tormented by his peers. Peter is not athletic, smart or popular. He does not wear the right clothes, nor does he fit in with the right crowd. The only thing Peter is good at is being the butt end of abuse and harassment.
Classmates pants him in the cafeteria, stuff him into lockers and call him fag. Peter believes the only way to end this hurt is to kill the people who hurt him, and he does.
Abuse like this is common in high school. I admit, I was never one of the popular kids, and I was fine with that because I was comfortable and confident with myself. But, I saw things my classmates would do to the uncool kids, which was horrible.
When someone has so much abuse thrown at him or her, there is no way to predict what reactions will take place. Our attitudes toward other people have the potential to have large, blowing effects, and if we are not careful how we treat others, tragic things may happen.
Being a teenager, or even a 21-year-old, is hard. We try to fit in with what we think is the popular crowd, hoping we will be accepted. In my school, the popular kids controlled everything from class council to athletics and the chorus.
But what makes the "popular" kids popular? It is because they wear expensive jeans or have money? No. It's a small group of people who have the talent to make people feel insignificant and unconfident. Image and perfection are everything to these people.
Do you want to know a secret? Life in the popular group isn't as cool as it always appears. People in this group have to keep up with the perfect image, always fearing that if nails aren't perfectly painted or there is an extra piece of flab, they will be rejected and harassed. It's stressful always having to look perfect and worry about what other people think of you. That is too much unwanted stress I would not want to handle.
Want to know what I say? Screw it. The only opinion that matters is yours, and if you care what other people think, you are ruining yourself.
In high school, I knew I wasn't part of that group, and I didn't want to be. I always knew I would find my group, and I found it at college.
Honestly, when I came to college, I did not really see any cliques. Everyone has the chance to have a fresh start, and I took advantage of that, as everyone should. All students are new, and no one knows anything about another.
If you are still waiting to find out where you belong, don't worry. You will find it one day; it'll just take some time until you are ready to let yourself be the leading lady (or man) of your life, not anyone else. Being yourself is the new trend.
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