Read Time:5 Minute, 15 Second

Walkout: #NeverAgain

On March 14, 2018, students of Mountain Lakes High School, alongside thousands of others across the country, paid tribute to the victims of gun violence in last month’s shooting. In an effort to show solidarity with Parkland, Florida, students participated in a national walkout, leaving classrooms at 10:00 am and gathering along the student parking lot. As an organizer of the event, the sense of unity and pride I felt during the event was simply indescribable. Regardless of political belief, conservative or liberal, students demonstrated that as a school we mourn the lives lost and must prevent these attacks on our youth.

Prior to the walkout, I must admit I felt hesitant. After posting on social media to raise awareness, I received a tremendous amount of backlash from several individuals. This varied from political discourse to personal attacks, all making me question whether this was a good idea.

However, as I contemplated my decisions, I realized that this walkout was so much bigger than the thoughts of a few hateful individuals and that the 17 souls who cannot be here with us should not have died in vain. As we mourn these individuals, we must never forget their stories and the potential they had. They could have changed the world, yet their lives were cruelly cut short.

My intentions behind the walkout were to recognize this potential and cherish the memories of the 17 as well as call attention to change that was necessary to prevent these attacks. I strived to do my best to remain bipartisan and allowed this change to be open to interpretation on an individual basis. Regardless of party, nobody wants their son, daughter, mother, father, friend or simply anyone, to die such a cruel death.

After the walkout, I had mixed feelings. I felt sadness, sorrow, anxiety and hope. Weird mix, right? However, the night after the walkout, I received a hopeful email from a student I had never spoken to before. This email removed all lingering feelings of anxiety and reassured me that the goals of the walkout had been accomplished. This email serves as a reminder that I had managed to inspire at least one student and, for me, that was good enough.

The walkout was an experience that I will always remember and cherish, as it showed me the unity and hope that is capable within our community.

Art Exhibition Reveals Our Unity

In an attempt to build bonds in the wake of the Parkland shooting, Mountain Lakes High School, under the direction of Ms. Adams, undertook its second community art project of the year. The idea was to take pictures of MLHS students, which were then printed in black and white and taped next to each other around the main lobby. The project was done in the style of French street artist JR, who is known for taking pictures of people in unusual settings, such as areas facing conflicts, and creating installations out of them.

I found the comparison a bit weird at first, but I did realize that it was pretty telling of how threatening our time is. While an American high school could never be considered dangerous at the same level as Brazilian favelas or the ruins of Syrian cities, Stoneman Douglas could have just as easily been Mountain Lakes High School. Parkland, like Mountain Lakes or Boonton Township, was touted as an affluent and safe community, and no one there believed that their town would ever be affected by such a tragedy.

The vision of this project, similar to JR’s projects, was to show both the individuality of Lakers and the unity among us—to show that, despite our differences, all of us go through the same things and are more alike than we would think. I can’t say I really believed it for myself until I actually worked on the project, though.

For eight periods on Friday, I sat outside the auditorium with a camera and took pictures of people who were walking through the hallway and willing to sit for a picture for five seconds. For some people, sitting for a photo came easily, and many of them were making interesting poses. For other people though, it was harder to come up with what to do for the camera, and many people were telling me that they did not want to see their picture on the wall–this was one odd way where I could relate to many of my friends and classmates.

I really enjoyed being on the photography end of the project. It was interesting to see each person’s reaction to being photographed, especially since in our age of social media, most people are either scared or sure of themselves around a camera. The portraits started to populate the wall within first period, and it built up into a more vast exhibition, with some people even taking their portrait against the backdrop of other people’s pictures.

Interest in the project picked up throughout the day, as curious students and faculty watched the printers tape up pictures. I was not able to see the exhibition at full force until the next Monday, but when I walked in then, I was overwhelmed by the sea of black and white that had taken over the lobby. After that initial reaction though, I took a closer look and better understood what the project was trying to accomplish. I looked at the individual expressions, and although I had seen many of them through the camera, it was fascinating to see how each Laker laughs and smiles, and how each expression accentuated the individual. Yet, if I stepped back, individuals were harder to see, and I was able to get a better picture of how Lakers looked as a whole.

In short, the people on that wall might not be best friends with each other, or even get along on a daily basis, but in a weird way, I sensed that in a more serious situation, we would be able to overcome our differences and support each other—much like how the people in Stoneman Douglas have after such the Parkland shooting.