I’ve been through a ton, seeing my parents rush my brother to the hospital after a suicide attempt (which has happened more than once), my grandpa being taken away in an ambulance, my brothers with blood all over their face after a terrible car accident where the car flipped over 3 times, and many more things. What I went through on December 13th, around 12:40 p.m. beats everything else.

I was in science class. I thought it would be just a typical day at school, but I was wrong. I was working on a project, and all of a sudden a lady spoke on the intercom, and I could tell something wasn’t right. She said we needed to be in a lockdown. Millions of thoughts were racing through my head, but I didn’t think it was anything too bad; maybe just someone with drugs, or something that happened 3 blocks away. My class is sitting in the back of the room with the lights off. As about 10 minutes passed, someone told me the cops were chasing someone and there was someone in the school with a gun. I thought it was a rumor. That stuff doesn’t just happen that much. But after about 20 minutes, I realized it could happen anywhere, and then thoughts about Sandy Hook were racing in my head.

After about 30 minutes, I heard someone trying to get in our classroom and my heart started racing. They opened it, and no one came in for a bit, which scared me even more. Then a police officer and another man came in telling us we are going to leave the building. We followed a police officer with a huge gun and another one behind us. As I walked down the stairs I saw more police officers with AK guns that were bigger than any gun I have ever seen.

Through all this, I was thinking about how I didn’t tell my mom I loved her back this morning when she left since I was exhausted and didn’t feel like talking. I thought about my family and everyone I love, and all I wanted to do was go give them a hug and tell them I loved them.

When I got outside, everyone was running towards the police who made sure we knew they were there to protect us. The police officers offered to have us sit in his car if we were cold, and they told us to text our parents. I texted my mom, dad and my brother Cody and told them what was happening. I finally told them what I’ve been wanting to tell them ever since we went in that lockdown, and that was, “I love you.” After about 10 minutes of waiting, we started walking towards the school, and I didn’t want to go in. When I went in there were people crying and everyone was upset.

Now, all I can think about is getting evacuated by police with huge guns. That memory of me walking out of school, and how scared I was will probably stay with me for the rest of my life. Before today, I wasn’t too sure about how I felt about gun control, but after today I strongly believe we need better gun control, even if no one was injured. No one should have to feel as scared as the whole school did because of a gun. Next time I see a police officer just out on the street, I’m going to make sure I tell them thank you for everything they do. I’m going to make sure that I tell the people I love, that I appreciate them and love them, because today I thought I might not get to see tomorrow, and I would have died without telling my loved ones that I love them more than anything.