As I write this essay, I simultaneously feel incredible heartbreak and a revolting lack of shock. 

A couple weeks ago, on March 27th, six people were brutally murdered in the Nashville school shooting. 

I wish I could say I heard the news and was startled, but I vividly remember sitting in my global politics class as my classmate asked me which school shooting I was referencing. Isn’t that something? The fact that there are enough school shootings in the United States to the point where it becomes difficult to identify them? 

I now read of school shootings and find myself both devastated and unsurprised. As of this moment on April 10th, 2023, there have been more shootings this year than there have been days on the calendar. 

I am not certain how to articulate my thoughts on this issue; I can only describe my feelings as fear, devastation, and disappointment. Above all else, I am disappointed. I am disappointed that the countless lives lost both this year and in previous years have not been enough to shift the narrative, that they have not been enough to stress the dire necessity for gun regulation. 

I wish an essay could communicate the emotions that run through me as I walk into school for what could be the last time each and everyday, but until then, all I have to say is that I am disappointed, and that no one should have to clarify which shooting they are referencing.