At 19 I was at college band camp week when I heard about the Freeman High School shooting. I went to a bathroom and cried for a while. I'd grown up playing then in sports, spent the previous summer doing river restoration work in the area. Not even a blip on the national news.

At 16 I was taking college classes. One day the lecturer suddenly stopped and asked a man standing in the back if he needed something. He was in a trench coat and sunglasses. A wave of panic spread through the hall. I texted my parents I loved them. He was eventually removed by security.

At 15 I was so excited to see the new batman movie. I went in costume to a three movie marathon that ended in the midnight premiere. The next day I learned people like me had been slaughtered at a theater in CO.

I was laid off in May and it took me three months to find a job that pays $9 less per hour to water plants.
I have a degree in Botany and am halfway through a masters.