I'm an international student, and in my country it is not common at all to hear about school shootings happening. So why should they happen anywhere?
I was having dinner with my roommate and my friend at Brody, when we got 2 back-to-back notifications indicating that a shelter-in-place was taking action, and I ran to my room with them, barricaded my door and shut off the windows, blinds and lights. I was scared for my life, even if the shooter wasn't even close to Bryan hall. We hid for 4 hours, and even though my roommate and friend weren't as worried as I am, they were still in shock. At one moment, we had to shut everything off including the radio, and huddle behind one of the desks in the room, because we slightly heard the dispatcher mention Bryan Hall for a second in the radio. We didn't even think about it, it was just pure instinct
The fact that America prioritizes the seldomness of owning a weapon over the safety of their citizens is mind-boggling. This just sounds like a dystopia, straight out of George Orwell's books. Calls from everybody surged in, including my friends and familiars from overseas that didn't quite understand the situation, since it's not common at all overseas. Gun safety, assured safety and student safety are the themes I've seen highlighted the most these past 3 days. It's unfair to be a student nowadays, and not because we have to sit down in lectures at 8am with an energy drink as our only breakfast, but also because we cannot assure our own safety. As an international, if I knew that I was going to go through all of this, I wouldn't have even thought of coming to the United States to study. Even my parents debated the idea of me staying there for this week of cancelled classes, because they were that worried. Do better, Michigan, America, and please acknowledge our safety. Traditions are just old people putting pressure on us, just like the second amendment