Looking For Something More Than Thoughts and Prayers...

News of yet another school shooting was released today. My heart drops every time these events occur, and breaks for the students, staff, and parents that the trauma will forever impact. I was a young student when the shooting at Columbine happened. I remember sitting in a local restaurant with my father after school, as we watched the news of the massacre on the small television mounted in the corner of the room. 

Just two years later, the Santee school shooting was more local and instilled a fear in me that I have never quite been able to shake. Yet, I thrived through school because I had such amazing teachers, and the support of friends, family, and coaches. I enjoyed school so much that even after a long day, my cousins and I would go home to play a game of school taking turns pretending to be teachers and students. I didn’t need much motivation to do well in school because I loved it so much. I loved learning, and I loved helping others learn. 

Teaching felt like my calling, and once I got to college I decided to answer that call. After a couple of years of student teaching, and graduating from the University of San Diego, I set out to find a job, but that was easier said than done, so I began subbing instead. December 14, 2012, was my first day on the job. The day of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. These shootings have become more and more common, and it seems like we are all expected just to continue going about our everyday lives like nothing even happened. That just isn’t possible for me. After becoming a mother, I was happy to be able to find a job teaching from the safety of my own home. The anxiety I felt at the possibility of being caught in a school shooting did not allow me to return to a brick-and-mortar classroom.

Our children were getting closer and closer to school age, so Arturo and I began discussing how we would go about educating our children. If I didn’t feel comfortable in a brick-and-mortar school, how could I ever send our children to one? May 24, 2022 came and the news of the Uvalde School shooting was released. At that moment, Arturo and I decided that we were going to homeschool our children. 

This first post was supposed to be about the amazing school year we have planned for our children, and the excitement they have for learning, but that can wait for later. For now, I want to send my thoughts out to those impacted by today's shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia. I want to beg our current and future administration to make a change. We need gun reform now! We need authorities to take teachers and students seriously when fears about potential threats are shared. I will be hugging my babies a little tighter today.