One year ago today, Feb. 14, 2018, a gunman opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida. He killed 17 people including students and teachers, as well as injuring 17 more.

This event tainted Valentine’s Day for the victim’s families and the Parkland community. Despite the tragedy of the event, however, it sparked a fight against gun violence in the students. A group of students formed a group called “March For Our Lives.” In the past year, they’ve worked towards raising awareness for gun violence and legislation. Today, the group’s social media is going dark while the state of Florida lowers all flags to half staff to honor the victims.

The shooting also sparked a nationwide school walk-out. Many students at Niles West, including me, walked out in support of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas students. After I posted pictures of the walk-out on Twitter, a BBC News representative messaged me and asked if I would like to be interviewed on the radio. In the interview, I was asked questions about the walk out and why I decided to walk out. Since BBC is based in the UK, they seemed interested to talk with an American student. I was asked about how I felt going to high school with all of the recent school shootings and if I thought there would ever be a change in legislation for guns. I explained that I believed the magnitude of students and activists were undoubtedly going to make some sort of change.

“March For Our Lives” co-organizer and gun control activist David Hogg will be at New Trier High School on Wed., Feb. 20 at 6:30 PM. He will be talking about his experiences and opinions in an event entitled Grassroots Strategies to Combat Community Violence.

In the year following this life-altering event, students have become activists, but families and friends still mourn their losses. Today we remember the people who were tragically killed.