Written By: Sara Robinson & Natalie Williams

One month ago on February 14th, 17 lives were tragically taken at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Among the seventeen killed by gunman were a football coach, an athletic director, and 15 bright-eyed high school students. The amount of suffering and emotional hardships those close to the people who were killed is truly unimaginable to most. And, in order to honor and recognize those killed and especially those who took their own lives in order to save others, our school participated in the nationwide walkout.

At 10:00 am on Wednesday, March 14th, hundreds of Newport Harbor students flocked to the stadium in order to recognize the people who lost their lives. For 17 whole minutes, the students in the crowd were dead silent, and for those in the audience, this was truly incredible.

Junior Sam Quattrociocchi attended the walkout and was amazed at the event as a whole. Prior to the event, he was unsure of how the audience would react, but once there, he was pleasantly surprised. “Everyone was so optimistic about the future and how we as a nation would recover from this catastrophe,” and to Quattrociocchi this was very refreshing. To him, it was “extremely impressive that hundreds of high schoolers were willing to be completely silent for 17 whole minutes,” and it speaks for how powerful the student’s at our own campus are affected by this issue.

Seeing such a large portion of the Newport Harbor school body also made sophomore Kenia Trujillo extremely moved that “so many people cared about the movement.” For her, what stood out the most for her while there was how the students at NHHS, who are all so different in every possible way, were able to “take the time to pray for the families and those lost without any interruption.”

This event brought the strange fact to our attention regarding the impact we have on our nation. Social media makes every event, every statement made, and every picture posted so public to us, and because of this we forget to acknowledge that what we are doing, what we are choosing to participate in, is actually making history. On March 14, 2018, tens of thousands of students walked out nationwide in order to voice their beliefs regarding gun control. Even if you don’t agree with what these students are fighting for, you can’t deny the importance of the next generation voicing their political beliefs and laying the groundwork for a future of change. History was made at our own campus, and because of this, the future is unclear regarding gun control, which is amazing in its own right.