I’m grateful for my friends and family. Cliche, but true.
Unfortunately, I had to be reminded of this in the midst of one the hardest moments of my life. On Wednesday night I was spending my evening the way I usually do, hanging out with my roommates and attempting to do homework, when a girl from down the hall hysterically barged into my room. She told us that there was a shooting happening at Borderline, a bar not too far from campus. As I heard this, everyone I know came to mind. From the friends I made in my hiking class, to all the friends I have met from my residence hall, to my good friend from church that lives in Moorpark.
I panicked at the possibility that any of these people could have been taken from me that night. Thankfully, I was able to reach them and found out they were all okay and didn’t go to Borderline that night. I was reminded of how thankful I am for the lives of all the people in my life.
Photo by Courtney Hedger on Unsplash
As a result of this tragedy, my family from all over the country and even some relatives in Mexico began to reach out to me to make sure I was safe.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only tragedy to hit my community. A few days after this, fires began to break out not too far from campus, and then to top it off a few days after that, there was a bomb threat at an apartment building down the street from my residence hall.
As I dealt with these traumatic tragedies, the fact that I never felt alone, because I had all of my friends and family constantly checking up on me, reminded me that I am loved and many people care about me.
This love helped me get through many rough days full of grief, uncertainty and fear, and reminded me of how grateful I am for my support system; my friends and family.