To The Editor:
Anyone who has experienced gun violence knows that there is a ‘before’ and ‘after’ to the tragedy.
Before Dec. 13, you might have been aware of where the doors were in your classrooms, but never thought you’d have to build barricades against them. Before, the library was a place for studying, not for hiding and getting panicked texts from friends and family. Before, campus safety alerts might have been emails you skimmed, not ones you obsessively checked for law enforcement updates.
I’ve been living in the ‘after’ since I was 15.
My ‘before’ consisted of worries about a Spanish test and whether I’d get asked to the next school dance. My ‘before’ was hanging out with my best friend, Dominic Blackwell, in the quad before school started in the mornings. The two of us were freshmen at Saugus High School and had big dreams, goals of getting into schools like Brown.
But on Nov. 14, 2019, an older student I had never met walked into my school with a ghost gun. There were six loud bangs, and I was knocked to the ground. Somehow, I was able to get away. I made it up three flights of stairs to my Spanish classroom. But only when my terrified classmates saw me did I realize that I’d been shot in the stomach with a .45 caliber bullet.
I was airlifted to the hospital and had emergency surgery. Only after surgery did my parents tell me what happened to Dominic. He had been shot and killed, and so had another classmate, Gracie Anne Muehlberger. Gracie was also just 15 years old.
The ‘after’ of gun violence is not a place anyone should have to live with. In many ways, it feels like being in the Upside Down from “Stranger Things.” Everything looks the same, but the air is heavier. My ‘after’ comes with residual doctor visits. It’s my brain automatically taking inventory of nearby exits and windows. It’s knowing I don’t just have to worry about tests and exams, but also about my life and the lives of my classmates.
Without question, though, the hardest part of my ‘after’ is the never-ending pain of missing my best friend. I think about him during life moments he should have had too — receiving college acceptance letters, moving into dorms.
That’s why, in Dominic’s memory, I dedicated my ‘after’ to activism. Because no one should be forced into missing the moments that seem all too common. There is nothing I can do to bring him back, but if the advocacy I do saves even one life, it will have been worth it.
I’ve now lived through two school shootings, and I still believe change is possible. As we return to campus, it is important that we not only remember the horrific events of Dec. 13 but also use them as motivation to fight for change. We cannot let fear and sadness overtake our hope and drive for a better future.
Students who want to learn the skills to organize, talk to lawmakers, work with the media, run political campaigns or build coalitions should funnel their anger into student activism. It’s been tireless and rewarding work as we’ve made steady progress, but the shooting in December proved that the progress we’ve made has not been enough. Every day that goes by that we do not enact sweeping gun sense legislation is another day where we are allowing people to die, families to be torn apart and communities to be shattered. No matter your area of study, whether it be Political Science or Math, you can fight for gun violence prevention.
What happened on Dec. 13 was not inevitable. Like all gun violence, it was 100% preventable with common-sense gun safety policies, and it demands that we come together as a community to act. At noon on Feb. 10, Students Demand Action will be gathering on the Main Green. Join us as we march to the State House.
Sincerely,
Mia Page-Tretta ’27
