[link] I accept and support Rachel's Challenge.

Sorry for the two journals so close together, but I thought I should make it more personal.

On Thursday, there was a shooting at my school. Supposedly it was unintentional (that's what we've heard so far), and someone was just cleaning a rifle. (Hello, even I know not to clean a loaded gun.) It was a 22 Caliper? Caliber? (IDK) Rifle. It hit a janitor in the leg, and grazed a senior's temple. If she had moved the slightest, she would've been killed.

And then I thought, my brother is a senior. He could've been in that class, in that seat. I had a friend in that class.

While we were in lock down, most thought it was a drill. But I knew there was something wrong. I could feel it. While some joked around, I wrote a goodbye letter. D: LOL. I'm stupid, I know. But my worst fears were confirmed when we heard sirens. My friends told me of screams, and gunshots that sounded like an angry teacher slamming a door.

We didn't figure out what happened until we got home, and even then, didn't get the full story. However, the next day, our principal told us what happened on the morning show.

The whole time this went on, I kept thinking of Columbine. I had researched it before, and I supported the cause though I wasn't the most enthusiastic supporter. I had always thought of Rachel Joy Scott as a bit of an idol to me.

Thursday, I began to research her a little more. I found out how she died, when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris asked if she believed in G 0 D. (Not sure if that's allowed) She said she did. She was shot, the first to be killed that fateful day.

And then I had heard that the last words her brother Craig had said to her that day weren't nice. I thought of not getting to say goodbye to my big brother, who is now Rachel's age when she died. I thought of saying things I'd never be able to change.

And that hurt. It hurt a lot, and now, I really believe that this is something that can be changed. No more shootings, no more violence.

You should read some of the things in Rachel's journal. Like, how she had prayed for one of the boys who shot her just the day before, because she felt for him.

She knew she wouldn't be spending a long time on this Earth, that God had sent her here to make an impact, but to not last long. It was one of the things emphasized in her journal.

It's crazy, how prophetic she was. One of the things she wrote in her journal that drove Rachel's Challenge the most was, "I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain reaction of the same." It was in her essay, which can be found: [link]

Rachel's Challenge strives to preach Rachel's beliefs, and make sure that she does make the impact she knew she was destined to have. It has saved 150 students from committing suicide in this year alone. It is represented by her family and friends, mainly her brother Craig. He survived Columbine, but two friends on either side of him did not. One they killed because he was African American. The reason they did not kill Craig is because the sprinkler system went off due to the smoke, distracting the boys.

Still, the blood of his friends splattered on his clothes, the blood of his sister, they are a solemn reminder to him that he must never let their legacy die.

I hope you won't either.

Love,
Meghan