1 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:12,799 Speaker 1: You're listening to Alive Again, a production of Psychopia Pictures 2 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:14,240 Speaker 1: and iHeart Podcasts. 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 2: My name is Delaney Tarr. I am a former student 4 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:21,599 Speaker 2: activist who co founded a gun violence prevention organization called 5 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 2: March for Our Lives after the shooting at my high 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 2: school in Parkland, Florida, on February fourteenth, twenty eighteen. 7 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Alive Again, a podcast that showcases miraculous accounts 8 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,360 Speaker 1: of human fragility and resilience from people whose lives were 9 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 1: forever altered after having almost died. These are first hand 10 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: accounts of near death experiences and more broadly, brushes with death. 11 00:00:51,200 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: Our mission is simple, find and explore and share these 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: stories to remind us all of our shared human condition. 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,240 Speaker 1: Please keep in mind these stories are true and maybe 14 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:05,520 Speaker 1: triggering for some well listener, and discretion is advised everyone. 15 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: Before we begin today's episode, I wanted to tell you 16 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,840 Speaker 1: about a very special segment that you're about to hear. 17 00:01:11,520 --> 00:01:14,280 Speaker 1: Nicholas Takoski, one of our story producers here at Live 18 00:01:14,319 --> 00:01:18,440 Speaker 1: Again and the longtime host of Write Club Atlanta, invited 19 00:01:18,440 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: today's guest, Delaney Tarr, to perform her story before a 20 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,720 Speaker 1: live audience at one of their recent events. Right Club 21 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: is very special and the stories are always very intimate. 22 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: Delaney Tarr is a journalist, activist, and one of the 23 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: original founders of March for Our Lives. She's a survivor 24 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: of the twenty eighteen Parkland school shooting at Marjorie Stoneman 25 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 1: Douglas High School. She became one of the most visible 26 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:43,080 Speaker 1: young voices fighting for gun violence prevention in America. Since then, 27 00:01:43,120 --> 00:01:45,399 Speaker 1: she's carried the weight of that experience into her activism 28 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 1: and storytelling. But recently something happened that reframed everything. Just 29 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: weeks ago, Delaney's younger sister survived a school shooting of 30 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: her own, this time it was Florida State University. In 31 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: a heartbreaking Instagram post, Delaney reflected on the two thousand, 32 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 1: six hundred and nineteen days that had passed between her 33 00:02:04,120 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: school shooting and her sisters quote, I keep rolling it 34 00:02:07,800 --> 00:02:11,120 Speaker 1: over in my head. The mirror image hiding out in 35 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: a closet in twenty eighteen, texting my parents, my sister 36 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: hiding out in a dorm room in twenty twenty five, 37 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:20,600 Speaker 1: texting the family group chat. The anger, the pain, the fear. 38 00:02:21,480 --> 00:02:25,600 Speaker 1: It's also familiar. She's going through it All end quote. 39 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,800 Speaker 1: So this episode is not only about survival, It's about grief. 40 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: It's about advocacy and the heartbreak of watching history repeat 41 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: itself in the life of someone you love. After this 42 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:38,440 Speaker 1: live segment, will return to the studio for a deeper 43 00:02:38,440 --> 00:02:42,560 Speaker 1: conversation with Delaney, one that explores how activism shapes grief, 44 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:46,480 Speaker 1: how her life has evolved since Parkland, and how she 45 00:02:46,560 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 1: continues to navigate the complexities of survival and advocacy. What 46 00:02:50,720 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 1: you're about to hear is Delaney's powerful, unfiltered reading on stage. 47 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:56,560 Speaker 1: It's a rare and intimate moment that gives voice to 48 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:57,320 Speaker 1: her experience. 49 00:03:01,000 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 2: Why do you know how a fig is formed? 50 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 3: I'll tell you it's pretty nasty. 51 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:13,600 Speaker 1: See. 52 00:03:13,639 --> 00:03:16,800 Speaker 2: The fruit is a stem that has flowers inside, little 53 00:03:16,800 --> 00:03:21,040 Speaker 2: tiny flowers. Those flowers amid a tantalizing smell, ready for 54 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 2: pollen that draws female wasps in Desperate to get to 55 00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:28,160 Speaker 2: the flowers. The wasp crawls through a teeny little hole, 56 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:33,120 Speaker 2: loses her wings, her antenna, mutilates herself, lays her eggs, 57 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:36,960 Speaker 2: pollinates the plant, and dies. As the dead mother wasp 58 00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 2: rots inside that fig, her eggs hatch the male bugs 59 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:44,000 Speaker 2: small no wings, find the females and mate with them. 60 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:48,600 Speaker 2: It's incestrous because they're so little and flightless. The men 61 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:52,600 Speaker 2: die inside their final resting place, right next to mother. 62 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 2: It's only the fertilized females who ever leave pollen, prepared 63 00:03:56,960 --> 00:04:00,360 Speaker 2: to find another fig and begin the process again. Because 64 00:04:00,360 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 2: of that fig is my favorite fruit. Every time I 65 00:04:06,840 --> 00:04:10,440 Speaker 2: bite into that soft flesh and taste those mealy, pink insides, 66 00:04:10,800 --> 00:04:14,080 Speaker 2: I think of the rotting wasp, a little decay, That 67 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 2: doomed partnership made something so divine. The story of the 68 00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:26,560 Speaker 2: fig doesn't resonate with everyone. On a mixed audience hike 69 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:28,920 Speaker 2: through the rainforest of Costa Rica with my family and 70 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,400 Speaker 2: some British tourists, a guide stopped at a massive tree 71 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:34,360 Speaker 2: ready for a gotcha? 72 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 3: Does anybody know how the fig is formed? With glee? 73 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 3: My hands shut up? 74 00:04:39,520 --> 00:04:45,120 Speaker 2: Dead wasp, Dead wasp, I announced, always a teacher's pet. 75 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 2: My mother glanced at me with her through her sweat 76 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:49,160 Speaker 2: trip brow. 77 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:51,159 Speaker 3: What's wrong with you? 78 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,120 Speaker 2: Ourn't? Your friends avoided me for the rest of the trip, 79 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 2: less charmed by my fun fact than I expected, But 80 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,080 Speaker 2: perhaps they weren't prepared to confront the gruesome dirty truth 81 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 2: of the beautiful fruit. After all, it's a natural aphrodisiac, 82 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:09,600 Speaker 2: not what many associate with dead bugs, but I love it. 83 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 2: When my high school got shot up in twenty eighteen, 84 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,240 Speaker 2: a wound formed in our town. Literal people died, but 85 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 2: the community was changed. Everyone streamed in to fill that gap. 86 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:23,600 Speaker 2: They wanted to help, or maybe they just wanted to. 87 00:05:23,520 --> 00:05:24,560 Speaker 3: Be a part of the hubbub. 88 00:05:25,320 --> 00:05:27,839 Speaker 2: Crowds parked right at the entrance of my now alma 89 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:31,040 Speaker 2: mater to cry more and show their hurt at everything. 90 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 2: School was shut down, obviously, and there was no real 91 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:36,880 Speaker 2: morning place, so right there in front of the bike 92 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:40,400 Speaker 2: racks where we scheduled all of our fistfights, it became 93 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 2: a shrine. We had a gaping, painful hole where the 94 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,440 Speaker 2: world used to be. To fix it, they laced public's 95 00:05:48,480 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 2: plastic wrapped flowers into the chain link fence. When that 96 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 2: got too full, they stacked up vases full of carnations, 97 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,520 Speaker 2: roses and Valentine's Day discount bouquets anywhere they could fill 98 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 2: each new edition and helped a little bit more. I 99 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,080 Speaker 2: took some pictures at the start. I studied what everyone left, 100 00:06:06,080 --> 00:06:08,160 Speaker 2: seeing if they splurged on the good roses, or if 101 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,719 Speaker 2: they just used their leftovers. I didn't care much for 102 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 2: those flowers. I like to make my own bouquets. The 103 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:16,960 Speaker 2: spray roses from my girlfriend's gift that year were still 104 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:20,479 Speaker 2: drying on my dresser. But as the days passed, the 105 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,880 Speaker 2: mountain of flowers only grew, transforming our eerily quiet campus 106 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 2: into some pastiche of tragedy. After a week, the Florida 107 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,120 Speaker 2: sun had baked it all down into remains. Stems had 108 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:33,800 Speaker 2: melted into mush, and the petals had crisped up. And 109 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:35,760 Speaker 2: they really don't tell you how a flower smells once 110 00:06:35,760 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 2: it's done being pretty. The smell climbed into our noses 111 00:06:39,200 --> 00:06:41,520 Speaker 2: at one hundred yards and reminded you of exactly why 112 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 2: the bouquets were there. The blood was still inside the building. 113 00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,920 Speaker 2: Nothing felt more alive, but the pretty was supposed to 114 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 2: fix the rot. The pretty decayed until it permeated, and 115 00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:56,080 Speaker 2: that's when I started to like it. The rot was 116 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:58,680 Speaker 2: the only thing that I could accept. It felt familiar, 117 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:00,960 Speaker 2: and it matched what I was feeling gnawing deep inside me, 118 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:04,599 Speaker 2: like I was also decomposing. Yeah, it's cliche, but we 119 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 2: all were, couldn't they see it. I developed a hobby. 120 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:12,400 Speaker 2: I've had a long overactive imagination and an affinity for horror, 121 00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 2: the Boogeyman lurking in the shadows, and knowledge was a comfort. 122 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 2: I grew up on an Internet where you had fifty 123 00:07:19,120 --> 00:07:21,640 Speaker 2: percent chance of seeing a video of someone's graphic death 124 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 2: anytime you logged on, and sometimes it felt like I 125 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 2: was extra prepared for our real life nightmare. So I 126 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 2: started watching sped up videos of animals decomposing. 127 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 3: I cope. 128 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,320 Speaker 2: I've never been a religious person, so the question of 129 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,920 Speaker 2: what happens when we die was a pretty practical one 130 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 2: for me, and I needed it answered. 131 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:45,840 Speaker 3: There's catharsis in decomposition. 132 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,640 Speaker 2: It's not evil that the flesh begins to sag and 133 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 2: slough away, that the ants and maggots feast with glee, 134 00:07:51,320 --> 00:07:55,480 Speaker 2: raising down the eyes and testin's muscle on a squirrel, bird, lizard, 135 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 2: whatever it might be, it doesn't look too different from 136 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:00,840 Speaker 2: eating a bone in chicken wing when you think about it. 137 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 3: In those videos, though. 138 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 2: Death is just a step, a part of the process 139 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,560 Speaker 2: once living things break down into phosphorus, potassium, and carbon 140 00:08:09,600 --> 00:08:14,120 Speaker 2: for the soil that becomes life anew. Nobody's wrong not 141 00:08:14,200 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 2: the ant, the maggot, or the bacteria that break it down, 142 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,120 Speaker 2: and nobody's hiding from it. Back in the real world, 143 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 2: everybody wanted to didn't want to take off that rotting 144 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 2: safety blanket. When the shrines would leave, school would reopen, 145 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:28,600 Speaker 2: life would go on, and it would be just another 146 00:08:28,640 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 2: step in the process as we became something new. 147 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 3: But it was unavoidable. 148 00:08:33,840 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 2: Eventually, some stranger cleared off the sidewalk, picked the mushy 149 00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,679 Speaker 2: stems out of the fence. Students built a garden, planted 150 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,640 Speaker 2: flowers that wouldn't die, fertilized with soil rich in all 151 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 2: those carcass goodies. We spent so long hiding from the wound, though, 152 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 2: that it had festered. The stink of it came out, 153 00:08:51,600 --> 00:08:56,760 Speaker 2: and people got nasty, They got mean, community came crashing down, 154 00:08:56,800 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 2: and factions took its place. 155 00:08:58,880 --> 00:09:02,560 Speaker 3: I had never felt more removed from it all. Now. 156 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:04,199 Speaker 3: Rotten things are my solace. 157 00:09:04,960 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 2: When someone tells me they're deep dark, that thing clawing 158 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:09,959 Speaker 2: up their throat and scratching at their brain. 159 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:12,120 Speaker 3: I trust it. It's real. 160 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 2: My friends and I we like to say that we 161 00:09:14,880 --> 00:09:16,959 Speaker 2: rot in bed, or that our look of the day 162 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:18,840 Speaker 2: is rotted like a shuffling corpse. 163 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 3: I study it. 164 00:09:21,400 --> 00:09:23,640 Speaker 2: I leave my produce in the fridge way past an 165 00:09:23,640 --> 00:09:25,520 Speaker 2: ok point until I have to slam the door shut 166 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 2: just to trap a sent inside. I let my bouquets 167 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 2: sit on the table so I can gaze at them 168 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:32,840 Speaker 2: while I eat, watching the whites turn brown and the 169 00:09:32,840 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 2: buds turn down to the ground. And when it's unbearable, 170 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 2: I scrub it all down. I fill the trash with 171 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,200 Speaker 2: truly heinous sense. Rotto disparagus can clear a room, and 172 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 2: I make it clean. And just like that, I've done 173 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:47,640 Speaker 2: my step. I save some things, the crispy petals, the 174 00:09:47,640 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 2: barely trimmed herbs. I make it new, and I make 175 00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:51,839 Speaker 2: it beautiful again. 176 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 3: My name is Delane Uitar. 177 00:10:02,400 --> 00:10:04,920 Speaker 2: I am a former student activist who co founded a 178 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 2: gun violence prevention organization called March for Our Lives after 179 00:10:08,679 --> 00:10:11,040 Speaker 2: the shooting at my high school in Parkland, Florida, on 180 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 2: February fourteenth, twenty eighteen. 181 00:10:15,559 --> 00:10:15,959 Speaker 3: I was a. 182 00:10:15,920 --> 00:10:18,840 Speaker 2: Senior in high school at the time, and interestingly enough, 183 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:20,800 Speaker 2: I was, you know, kind of at that crux in 184 00:10:20,840 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 2: your life where you're looking at colleges. 185 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 3: Trying to figure out what the rest of your life 186 00:10:24,840 --> 00:10:25,680 Speaker 3: is going to look like. 187 00:10:27,160 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 2: I had been toying with journalism and film as my 188 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 2: two main options. 189 00:10:32,440 --> 00:10:33,560 Speaker 3: Throughout all of high school. 190 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:37,280 Speaker 2: I had been in TV production and newspaper, which were 191 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,600 Speaker 2: these groups where I was, you know, producing student news 192 00:10:39,679 --> 00:10:44,360 Speaker 2: but also producing student films. So pretty care free on 193 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 2: that front. 194 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 3: And I'm from South Florida. 195 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,079 Speaker 2: So it's a very beachy, a little bit idyllic lifestyle, 196 00:10:50,160 --> 00:10:54,560 Speaker 2: not perfect, but definitely pretty normal teenage life that I 197 00:10:54,640 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 2: was living. It didn't feel idyllic then now it does, 198 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:04,600 Speaker 2: but that's what I remember. So the vibe at Marjorie 199 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 2: Stone and Douglas High School is massive and wealthy are 200 00:11:08,920 --> 00:11:11,080 Speaker 2: the two main ways that I would characterize the school. 201 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 2: But it was a really huge school that could swallow 202 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:18,040 Speaker 2: you up. But yeah, very classically like open campus Florida style. 203 00:11:18,720 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 2: Everything is outdoors and there's very few indoor hallways. I 204 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:26,520 Speaker 2: have a distinct memory of a couple of weeks before 205 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 2: the shooting talking to my mom about where I would 206 00:11:29,559 --> 00:11:31,839 Speaker 2: hide if there was a shooting. I had so that 207 00:11:31,840 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 2: I would hide in the trash cans outside. So it 208 00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:38,760 Speaker 2: was February fourteenth, it was Valentine's Day. I remember putting 209 00:11:38,760 --> 00:11:40,440 Speaker 2: on my cute little romper that my mom had bought 210 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:43,480 Speaker 2: me from Target and some sandals. I had made bouquets 211 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:46,600 Speaker 2: for all my friends in little Mason jars. You know, 212 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:48,400 Speaker 2: I wanted to do something sweet. And I also really 213 00:11:48,400 --> 00:11:50,480 Speaker 2: loved Valentine's Day for the kitsch of it all. 214 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 3: The actual day. 215 00:11:53,080 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 2: Itself, like leading up to that was a blur because 216 00:11:55,280 --> 00:11:57,719 Speaker 2: Valentine's Day was not a real day for classes. None 217 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:00,760 Speaker 2: of us paid attention, none of us cared. So about 218 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:03,400 Speaker 2: two ish pm, we were in Newspaper, which was my 219 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:05,199 Speaker 2: last class of the day, and I was hanging out 220 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 2: with my friends. We were watching videos, sitting on the 221 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,440 Speaker 2: beanback chairs in the classroom, hanging out, you know, not serious, 222 00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 2: watching vines, I think, like fine compilations on YouTube. So 223 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 2: it was, you know, a pretty normal day as far 224 00:12:16,679 --> 00:12:17,439 Speaker 2: as that goes, just a. 225 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:19,480 Speaker 3: Very unseerious day of school. 226 00:12:19,920 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 2: And I had worked later that day, so it was 227 00:12:22,360 --> 00:12:23,680 Speaker 2: kind of like leading up to like, Okay, I got 228 00:12:23,679 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 2: to get off school, go to Tilly's, texting my mom 229 00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 2: bout my shift at Tilly's. 230 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:29,959 Speaker 3: My damn, I have to work on a holiday. That's stupid. 231 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,559 Speaker 2: And we were supposed to have like a fancy Italian dinner. 232 00:12:33,559 --> 00:12:35,720 Speaker 2: My dad was making my favorite pasta for dinner, so it. 233 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:36,760 Speaker 3: Was going to be like a cute night. 234 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:39,560 Speaker 2: But yeah, at about two something PM, I don't remember 235 00:12:39,559 --> 00:12:41,520 Speaker 2: the exact time. I always have to ask my friends 236 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,720 Speaker 2: this one because I forget it. But towards the end 237 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:47,040 Speaker 2: of the school day, we heard an alarm go off. 238 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:54,720 Speaker 2: And we had been told in the months prior that 239 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:56,520 Speaker 2: there would be some school shooter drills that we're going 240 00:12:56,559 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 2: to be super realistic. 241 00:12:58,160 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 3: So we heard the drill go off. Oh my god, 242 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 3: that's so stupid. We have to evacuate so. 243 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 2: Close to the end of the school day when we 244 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,559 Speaker 2: had like twenty minutes left. So we walked down this 245 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:09,960 Speaker 2: little stairwell to go down to the first floor. Halfway 246 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:13,000 Speaker 2: down the stairwell, I start hearing screams, which is weird, 247 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:15,880 Speaker 2: and everybody starts panicking because we're seeing like very authentic 248 00:13:15,920 --> 00:13:18,680 Speaker 2: screams coming from like down in the other direction. So 249 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,440 Speaker 2: half of us kind of get pushed back up the 250 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:23,400 Speaker 2: stairs and into that classroom. 251 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:24,720 Speaker 3: The other half of the class we don't know where 252 00:13:24,720 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 3: they go. 253 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:27,760 Speaker 2: They did not make it back upstairs because it was 254 00:13:27,800 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 2: just find the nearest classroom. So we get up to 255 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:36,719 Speaker 2: the second floor. Our journalism teacher corrals us all into 256 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:41,480 Speaker 2: the classroom and we sit up against the wall, crouched down. 257 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 2: I am confused. I think I still at that time, 258 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:46,480 Speaker 2: was convinced that it was a shooter. 259 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:46,800 Speaker 1: Jel. 260 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,679 Speaker 3: I was like, Wow, this is a really realistic shooter. 261 00:13:48,760 --> 00:13:48,960 Speaker 2: Dril. 262 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 3: This is very strange what is going on? 263 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,720 Speaker 2: And the people around me are panicking, you know, So 264 00:13:53,760 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 2: I'm trying to calm everyone down, like, Okay, let's not cry, 265 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 2: let's be quiet just in case. 266 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:59,040 Speaker 3: Like let's but we're sitting there. 267 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 2: Against the wall that is like on the hallway, so 268 00:14:02,559 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 2: like our backs are to the hallway. Essentially, our teacher 269 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:09,720 Speaker 2: makes an executive decision to take us into the storage 270 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 2: closet where we keep all of the photography equipment. 271 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:16,800 Speaker 3: So I don't know how many. 272 00:14:16,720 --> 00:14:19,960 Speaker 2: Of us, probably like ten twelve of us really quickly 273 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 2: stand up, have to run across because the door has 274 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 2: a window, and there's windows on the other side of 275 00:14:25,080 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 2: the classroom, so we sprint across to make sure that 276 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 2: nobody can see us, just in case, and we get 277 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:31,920 Speaker 2: in the closet and I don't know how long we 278 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 2: were in the closet for. 279 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:34,120 Speaker 3: Probably at least an hour. 280 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 2: But some of the things I remember most were I 281 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,920 Speaker 2: was close to the door with my teacher, was crammed 282 00:14:41,040 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 2: in there. I was texting everyone. One of my friends 283 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 2: called me because he had been on campus earlier that day. 284 00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,280 Speaker 2: He called me a panicked and I was like, please 285 00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 2: don't text me. I remember texting my boss going, hey, 286 00:14:54,120 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 2: I actually can't make it into my shift today. I'm 287 00:14:56,480 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 2: currently hiding because there's a shooting at my school. He said, 288 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:01,960 Speaker 2: don't worry about it. And I think about that a lot, 289 00:15:02,040 --> 00:15:05,680 Speaker 2: because what was he supposed to say. My mom is 290 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:07,960 Speaker 2: texting me updates because the news is reporting on it 291 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 2: at this point, and like, I'm on Twitter some but 292 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:12,400 Speaker 2: I don't want to be on social media too much 293 00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:13,360 Speaker 2: because my phone is dying. 294 00:15:14,840 --> 00:15:15,920 Speaker 3: We're all realizing. 295 00:15:15,960 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 2: We're like, oh my god, who could it be? Because 296 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:20,120 Speaker 2: we know it's real. At this point, we all turn 297 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 2: off our Snapchat locations. That's like the first thing, because 298 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 2: Snapchat has a map feature where it tells you where 299 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 2: someone is, and we don't know who this could be. 300 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 2: We had theories about, like, Okay, which kid. 301 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 3: Do we think maybe he did a shooting? 302 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:32,840 Speaker 2: We're like, oh my god, does he have a snapchat, 303 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 2: and it was for some reason we assume to he, 304 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 2: you know, for many reasons. 305 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 3: We assumed it was a he. 306 00:15:37,840 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 2: So we were in there, like everybody's kind of realizing 307 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 2: things at the same moment, finding out news at the 308 00:15:41,920 --> 00:15:43,720 Speaker 2: same moment, and everybody's kind of shouting out like, oh 309 00:15:43,720 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 2: my god, there's this many people dead. 310 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 3: Oh my god, he's. 311 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,400 Speaker 2: Over here, Like we don't know what is and isn't 312 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:50,440 Speaker 2: true at this point in time, because some people are 313 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:52,680 Speaker 2: getting it from their friends texting from the other side 314 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:55,280 Speaker 2: of school, some people are getting it from news helicopters, 315 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:57,840 Speaker 2: some people are getting it from their parents, and it's 316 00:15:57,920 --> 00:16:04,480 Speaker 2: just like all this influx of information, and I can 317 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 2: tell that it's making people freak out more so one 318 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 2: of my friends is having like several panic attacks in 319 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:10,680 Speaker 2: the back of the closet. Somebody else is like crying, 320 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:12,360 Speaker 2: and this one girl keeps like a nounce and she's like, 321 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:13,680 Speaker 2: oh my god, I think there's more people dead. 322 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,040 Speaker 3: And I think I feel bad because. 323 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:18,600 Speaker 2: I did dick out on my iro on her because 324 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:19,960 Speaker 2: I was like, if you don't shut the fuck up, 325 00:16:20,000 --> 00:16:22,640 Speaker 2: I'm gonna slap you. You are not helping the situation. 326 00:16:26,880 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 2: Everybody was freaking out. So my way of handling it 327 00:16:29,200 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 2: was locked down, no feelings, keep my composure because everyone 328 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,800 Speaker 2: else is having a meltdown. I want to be as 329 00:16:35,960 --> 00:16:38,880 Speaker 2: solid as possible. My phone is dying, which I'm very 330 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:40,680 Speaker 2: acutely aware of the fact that I'm like, Okay, what's 331 00:16:40,680 --> 00:16:42,600 Speaker 2: gonna happen, So I like text my mom, I love 332 00:16:42,600 --> 00:16:44,240 Speaker 2: you if anything happens, and like text my dad and 333 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 2: my sister. I'm like, just in case, I want to 334 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 2: cover my bases. I don't want our last text to 335 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,040 Speaker 2: be stupid. My mom joking about like, don't fart in there, 336 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 2: which she did because she was trying to add brevity 337 00:16:52,920 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 2: to the situation, which maybe wasn't the right move, but 338 00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,280 Speaker 2: also like, what is the right move when your daughter's 339 00:16:57,320 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 2: in a school shooter situation? 340 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:00,800 Speaker 3: Don't fart. 341 00:17:03,640 --> 00:17:06,719 Speaker 2: So we were in there for quite a while, and 342 00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 2: we really didn't have any true real updates. We didn't 343 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 2: know where on campus the shooter was. Mind you, it's 344 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 2: a huge campus, so we didn't hear gunshots because we 345 00:17:16,920 --> 00:17:18,119 Speaker 2: sprinted upstairs so quickly. 346 00:17:18,520 --> 00:17:19,159 Speaker 3: Well, we don't know. 347 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:22,119 Speaker 2: Apparently, I find out half the kids had run out 348 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,520 Speaker 2: of the school completely. They had escaped to school so 349 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:25,400 Speaker 2: we were still. 350 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:26,480 Speaker 3: There for a while. 351 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:29,359 Speaker 2: Nobody knew where anybody was, nobody knew really what was 352 00:17:29,400 --> 00:17:32,919 Speaker 2: true and what wasn't. We were there for so so 353 00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:36,080 Speaker 2: long in that cramped little closet back up against the 354 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:38,840 Speaker 2: shelving where all the cameras were sitting, and eventually we 355 00:17:38,920 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 2: heard a banging sound on the main classroom door. So 356 00:17:46,280 --> 00:17:48,239 Speaker 2: I think they said something about like swat team, open up. 357 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,199 Speaker 2: And my first thought was I'm like, Oh, he's pretending 358 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 2: to be the swat team and we're all about to 359 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:56,600 Speaker 2: die right now. And I think everybody kind of thought that, 360 00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 2: because even my teacher bless Her, was like, like he 361 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:01,480 Speaker 2: was going to have to be the one to open 362 00:18:01,480 --> 00:18:03,840 Speaker 2: the door. But this is also just a person who 363 00:18:03,880 --> 00:18:11,080 Speaker 2: is terrified of being murdered. I remembered the baited breath 364 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 2: that we all had, in the fear that we all 365 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:15,879 Speaker 2: had because we knew we had to open our closet 366 00:18:15,920 --> 00:18:19,040 Speaker 2: door to like see who was at the door. And 367 00:18:19,119 --> 00:18:21,160 Speaker 2: that was the one moman where I was like, I'm 368 00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 2: about to die right now. We opened up the door 369 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:29,080 Speaker 2: and we could see like the military people standing outside 370 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:30,639 Speaker 2: through that little tiny window in the front of the 371 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 2: classroom door. Yeah, we kind of ran out. I still 372 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 2: didn't feel safe. I still had convinced myself like, Okay, 373 00:18:42,359 --> 00:18:43,240 Speaker 2: maybe there's a second. 374 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,719 Speaker 3: Shooter, Maybe there's somebody. Maybe they didn't catch him. 375 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:47,200 Speaker 2: He might still be walking around and we have these 376 00:18:47,280 --> 00:18:50,280 Speaker 2: giant wall of windows here that he could just shoot through. 377 00:18:50,320 --> 00:18:52,200 Speaker 2: I don't really know the logistics of how a gun works. 378 00:18:52,320 --> 00:18:53,879 Speaker 2: I mean I do now, but like I didn't at 379 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 2: the time understand would the bullet be able to get me. 380 00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:58,320 Speaker 2: So they like open up the doroorm. We're like, we're 381 00:18:58,320 --> 00:19:00,359 Speaker 2: gonna evacuate this entire haul into your classroom. And I'm 382 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:01,919 Speaker 2: looking at these windows. I'm like, I'm i gonna get 383 00:19:01,960 --> 00:19:04,400 Speaker 2: shot right now because everybody else is hiding, crouching down. 384 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:06,080 Speaker 2: But I'm walking around because I decided I want to 385 00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:09,480 Speaker 2: be the helper. Teacher's bet uh but yeah, I like 386 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:11,399 Speaker 2: wanted to help in any way possible. So I'm, you know, 387 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 2: stacking stuff, and then the classmates start filing in. 388 00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:18,160 Speaker 3: My TV production. 389 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:19,640 Speaker 2: Teacher was in the same hallway and he had become 390 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:21,280 Speaker 2: like a father figure to me. So I saw him 391 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:22,879 Speaker 2: and that was the first moment that I kind of 392 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:25,520 Speaker 2: I could feel the breakdown a little bitcause I was like, 393 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:27,320 Speaker 2: oh my god, like I finally feel safe around him 394 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 2: because he's known me for so long. I say, he's like, 395 00:19:29,760 --> 00:19:32,000 Speaker 2: you're okay, You're safe, and they're like, you know, it's 396 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 2: got these teachers trying to do like head counts and stuff, 397 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,720 Speaker 2: and these scary, scary military man standing there with their gun, 398 00:19:37,760 --> 00:19:40,359 Speaker 2: and it was just such a surreal situation that I 399 00:19:40,359 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 2: don't think I could really process it in the moment. 400 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 2: And then eventually they were like, Okay, we're going to 401 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,159 Speaker 2: go to the end of the hall where the library is, 402 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:49,400 Speaker 2: and we're going to take you out to the library 403 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,000 Speaker 2: and you're going to wait there. So we just kept 404 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 2: getting shuffled around. At that point, we did not know 405 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:54,000 Speaker 2: when we were going to get to leave the school 406 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:59,240 Speaker 2: if ever, so we have to walk with our hands 407 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:01,359 Speaker 2: up through the hall. I remember my friend filming it 408 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 2: after the student journalist. He was recording everything he could, 409 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 2: I was taking pictures. We were very much trying to 410 00:20:06,040 --> 00:20:08,439 Speaker 2: document the scenario. But yeah, us walking through the hallway 411 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 2: with our hands in the air, and we go When 412 00:20:09,760 --> 00:20:14,280 Speaker 2: we sit in the library, just waiting and waiting and waiting, 413 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:17,560 Speaker 2: I think we ate some grapes. The immediate fear and 414 00:20:17,600 --> 00:20:20,120 Speaker 2: shock was wearing off, so a lot of us reverted 415 00:20:20,160 --> 00:20:21,280 Speaker 2: to a kind. 416 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 3: Of childish stupidity because it was like, this is insane. 417 00:20:25,680 --> 00:20:28,200 Speaker 2: Let's pretend it's not happening, so, you know, we're joking 418 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 2: around being stupid. 419 00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:31,600 Speaker 3: Once again. Don't know how much time had passed. 420 00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 2: It felt like another hour, maybe it was, And they 421 00:20:33,960 --> 00:20:35,800 Speaker 2: were like, okay, so we're gonna evacuate you, but all 422 00:20:35,800 --> 00:20:37,600 Speaker 2: the roads are shut down, so you're gonna have to 423 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,840 Speaker 2: walk a mile to get to the library, like the 424 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:43,760 Speaker 2: actual Parkland library. So they filed us out of the school, 425 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:46,000 Speaker 2: hands up in the air, and we then had to 426 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,440 Speaker 2: begin our trek through all these closed down roads where 427 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:50,520 Speaker 2: you can see already news cruiser there. Some parents had 428 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,359 Speaker 2: made it inside, so like some people split off pretty early, 429 00:20:53,600 --> 00:20:56,159 Speaker 2: not me, so I had to walk the mile. We 430 00:20:56,200 --> 00:20:58,880 Speaker 2: made a bunch of probably tasteless jokes about like having 431 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:00,400 Speaker 2: to you know, make this journey in this. 432 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,080 Speaker 3: Trek, and how stupid it is that they're making us 433 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 3: walk so far. 434 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:06,199 Speaker 2: Right now, because once again don't want to confront the 435 00:21:06,200 --> 00:21:07,080 Speaker 2: reality of the situation. 436 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:09,760 Speaker 3: By the time we. 437 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 2: Made it to the library, my phone had died, so 438 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 2: I wasn't able to communicate with my family. I knew 439 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:17,600 Speaker 2: my dad was coming to pick me up, but I 440 00:21:17,600 --> 00:21:19,520 Speaker 2: didn't know where he was or how far away he was. 441 00:21:20,520 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 2: And unfortunately, when my phone died, I later found out 442 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,359 Speaker 2: that he panicked because he thought something else had happened. 443 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,880 Speaker 2: So he was like running around the parking lot screaming 444 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:31,600 Speaker 2: my name, like he had pulled over. He was like 445 00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,880 Speaker 2: trying desperately to find me because I think he thought 446 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:34,560 Speaker 2: that I had been shot. 447 00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:35,600 Speaker 3: In the time, since. 448 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,160 Speaker 2: Before we even left the parking lot of the library, 449 00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:46,800 Speaker 2: my journalism teacher was getting phone calls from Anderson Cooper's 450 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:50,840 Speaker 2: team to schedule interviews, so already was kind of beginning, 451 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:51,879 Speaker 2: and I could feel the first and I was like, 452 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:54,199 Speaker 2: oh my god, Anderson Cooper. So that was like the 453 00:21:54,240 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 2: first taste of something being insane. But yeah, my dad 454 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,800 Speaker 2: picked me up. We tried to go home, and then 455 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,240 Speaker 2: our neighborhood road was shut down. 456 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:08,920 Speaker 3: I'm like, that's weird. 457 00:22:08,920 --> 00:22:11,800 Speaker 2: So then we parked a little bit further away, walked 458 00:22:11,800 --> 00:22:15,600 Speaker 2: again for so long, so much walking that day, and 459 00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:17,919 Speaker 2: the reason the road was shut down was because they 460 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:23,119 Speaker 2: had caught the shooter outside of my neighborhood. He had 461 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:25,040 Speaker 2: gone to Walmart with the rest of the kids, the 462 00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:27,439 Speaker 2: Walmart next to our school, and like blended in. 463 00:22:29,600 --> 00:22:31,959 Speaker 3: He had made it far to get to my neighborhood. 464 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:33,120 Speaker 3: Because I was like, oh my. 465 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 2: God, this is so haunting and I don't really know 466 00:22:35,000 --> 00:22:38,600 Speaker 2: what to say about it, but yeah, we went home. 467 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,639 Speaker 2: My dad had still made his fancy dinner was Cabernada. 468 00:22:43,520 --> 00:22:45,199 Speaker 2: He was like, I know, he left his pasta. I 469 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:48,159 Speaker 2: barely picked at it. And it was just like a 470 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 2: really bizarre night because I was not crying. I think 471 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:54,000 Speaker 2: everybody was waiting for me to cry, but I was 472 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:56,480 Speaker 2: not crying. The few things that I did do I 473 00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,200 Speaker 2: scheduled an interview through Twitter DMS for the next day. 474 00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:01,320 Speaker 3: I found my high school yearbook. 475 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:03,399 Speaker 2: Once I learned the name of the shooter and I 476 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:05,640 Speaker 2: found his face, realized I did in fact know him 477 00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,040 Speaker 2: because he worked register at a dollar store nearby, and 478 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:15,080 Speaker 2: barely it's some pasta, collapsed into bed, woke up the 479 00:23:15,119 --> 00:23:18,399 Speaker 2: next day and then I had a different life than 480 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:25,239 Speaker 2: I ever expected. I had gotten DMS because I had 481 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:27,399 Speaker 2: tweeted something. I don't even remember what it was, but 482 00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,600 Speaker 2: I tweeted something about the shooting and it went semiviral, 483 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:32,400 Speaker 2: so people started dming me and asking to do interviews. 484 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,639 Speaker 2: I know that I'm good at talking. I know that 485 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:37,800 Speaker 2: I'm comfortable in front of the camera. I've spent many 486 00:23:37,840 --> 00:23:39,520 Speaker 2: years in front of and behind the camera in a 487 00:23:39,560 --> 00:23:42,720 Speaker 2: journalistic capacity, so I kind of was like, why not 488 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,359 Speaker 2: to do the interviews. I want people to talk to 489 00:23:45,400 --> 00:23:49,119 Speaker 2: the press. I want I want to share this my anger, 490 00:23:49,200 --> 00:23:51,400 Speaker 2: my vitriol. Because immediately I was like, oh my god, 491 00:23:51,440 --> 00:23:55,720 Speaker 2: this was so prevenable, So I yeah, I started doing interviews. 492 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 2: Literally immediately there was a vigil and that was where 493 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:00,600 Speaker 2: a lot of us reunited, so like I saw a 494 00:24:00,600 --> 00:24:03,120 Speaker 2: lot of my classmates that I hadn't seen since before 495 00:24:03,160 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 2: the shooting, tons of news cameras, but yeah, so that 496 00:24:06,640 --> 00:24:09,360 Speaker 2: was like reunions was the first thing, like hugging each other, 497 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:11,520 Speaker 2: people being like, oh my god, you're alive. Like we 498 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 2: all knew we were alive, but you kind of have 499 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 2: to see it to believe it. And I remember one 500 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:19,880 Speaker 2: of the parents of the children who were killed got 501 00:24:19,960 --> 00:24:21,680 Speaker 2: up there and started talking about how he couldn't remember 502 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 2: if he had said I love you to his daughter, 503 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:27,200 Speaker 2: and that was that was the moment that I think 504 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 2: I first started like really crying like it hit me, 505 00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 2: and I think it hit a lot of people in 506 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 2: a severe way. First of all, the fact that his 507 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:36,680 Speaker 2: daughter had just been killed and he was up here 508 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:41,760 Speaker 2: talking to us about this was like haunting, so amazing 509 00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 2: to see him say it and not like retreat but 510 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 2: be like, no, you have to confront what happened here, 511 00:24:48,760 --> 00:24:50,520 Speaker 2: because there were these cameras here and there were these 512 00:24:50,560 --> 00:24:53,080 Speaker 2: people watching across the country and the globe. 513 00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:54,720 Speaker 3: So he was like, I'm going. 514 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,120 Speaker 2: To make you deal with the fact that my daughter 515 00:24:57,200 --> 00:25:05,000 Speaker 2: is dead now and she should not be. And I 516 00:25:05,040 --> 00:25:06,840 Speaker 2: remember there were all these crosses set up for the 517 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 2: dead kids in the park on the ground, and I 518 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:12,600 Speaker 2: can remember my mom actually told me about this because 519 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:14,080 Speaker 2: I kind of forgot about it because I was like, 520 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 2: what was I like from your perspective in these days, 521 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,119 Speaker 2: because I know what I was like from my perspective, 522 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:21,159 Speaker 2: but you were, my mom, I don't know what you 523 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,359 Speaker 2: were experiencing. And she told me that at the vigil 524 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,000 Speaker 2: when we were about to leave, I had like gone 525 00:25:26,040 --> 00:25:27,800 Speaker 2: to the crosses and was like looking at the kids' names, 526 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:29,719 Speaker 2: and I started when she was like we have to leave, 527 00:25:29,760 --> 00:25:33,720 Speaker 2: I started uncontrollably sobbing, which was my first time doing 528 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:36,240 Speaker 2: that in front of her, maybe ever, but specifically in 529 00:25:36,280 --> 00:25:39,320 Speaker 2: this scenario, and I was like panicking at the thought 530 00:25:39,359 --> 00:25:42,200 Speaker 2: of having to leave, like she was like, I was like, please, no, like, 531 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,359 Speaker 2: don't make me leave. Don't like crying, crying, crying, And 532 00:25:45,400 --> 00:25:48,080 Speaker 2: she was trying to kind of manage that, but she 533 00:25:48,880 --> 00:25:50,480 Speaker 2: even still she was like, I don't know why you 534 00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,480 Speaker 2: reacted like that in that moment, but that was the 535 00:25:53,480 --> 00:25:54,040 Speaker 2: moment that you. 536 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:59,520 Speaker 3: Really broke down in front of me. I know. 537 00:26:00,080 --> 00:26:04,119 Speaker 2: I think that that was a moment of community and 538 00:26:04,160 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 2: safety and feeling held and that we were all together 539 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 2: mourning and grieving together. And having to go back to 540 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,760 Speaker 2: my home, back to my room and go be a 541 00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 2: person again was unfathomable to me because all I needed 542 00:26:17,800 --> 00:26:19,520 Speaker 2: was to just be around all of these people who 543 00:26:19,520 --> 00:26:21,600 Speaker 2: were feeling the same way as me, and it was 544 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:23,919 Speaker 2: almost like this pocket outside of the real world that 545 00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,600 Speaker 2: we could live in where we were holding these candles 546 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 2: and like feeling the hot wax and petting the therapy 547 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 2: dogs and you know, just hugging and crying and grieving 548 00:26:35,800 --> 00:26:40,240 Speaker 2: in this mass morning moment. To have to like realize 549 00:26:40,440 --> 00:26:42,399 Speaker 2: that there is a life outside of this and that 550 00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,360 Speaker 2: we have to carry these feelings into our daily lives 551 00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:51,200 Speaker 2: and just keep going was unfathomable to me. I started 552 00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:54,280 Speaker 2: avoiding my friends too, because a lot of them we 553 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:57,480 Speaker 2: would gather at our different houses and it would just 554 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,639 Speaker 2: kind of be sitting there in our feelings together, and 555 00:27:01,280 --> 00:27:02,280 Speaker 2: for a lot of them that helped. 556 00:27:02,320 --> 00:27:03,880 Speaker 3: For me, that was my worst nightmare. 557 00:27:04,200 --> 00:27:05,760 Speaker 2: I stay there for about twenty minutes, and I was 558 00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:09,280 Speaker 2: so violently uncomfortable that I told them I had to go, 559 00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:11,600 Speaker 2: and I went and I did an interview because that 560 00:27:11,760 --> 00:27:14,919 Speaker 2: was my coping mechanism was like I can talk about this, 561 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 2: but I can talk about it in a way that 562 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:20,159 Speaker 2: makes me feel guarded versus having to open up and 563 00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:22,400 Speaker 2: be vulnerable, because if I fall apart, I don't think 564 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 2: I'm gonna put myself back together again. And that was 565 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:28,800 Speaker 2: not a luxury that I wanted to afford myself at 566 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 2: the time of like just letting it loose and letting 567 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:35,439 Speaker 2: it go. But to pivot to like this was a 568 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:39,879 Speaker 2: preventable tragedy. There's a reason that this happened. This happened 569 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 2: because of gun laws, This happened because of the NRA, 570 00:27:42,680 --> 00:27:46,440 Speaker 2: and this happened because of you, And like that that 571 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,159 Speaker 2: was what I needed to say and that was what 572 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,159 Speaker 2: I wanted to share out into the world. And I 573 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,359 Speaker 2: was clearly not the only one because days later. 574 00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:55,840 Speaker 3: We formed March for Our Lives. 575 00:28:00,000 --> 00:28:02,080 Speaker 2: The journey of processing has been a process, which is 576 00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:04,560 Speaker 2: so silly to say, but there has not been one 577 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:06,919 Speaker 2: moment where I've realized it. It is a lot of 578 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:10,280 Speaker 2: hiindsight in understanding what I was doing and why I 579 00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 2: was doing it. I mean, every month I have a 580 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:15,520 Speaker 2: new revelation essentially where I'm like, oh my. 581 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,120 Speaker 3: God, everything I thought was wrong. So it's still very. 582 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 2: Much a process for me of like understanding and feeling 583 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:26,119 Speaker 2: and going through those feelings. But I did let myself 584 00:28:26,520 --> 00:28:30,720 Speaker 2: have emotions in very specific scenarios, so like protests are 585 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:32,600 Speaker 2: always very cathartic, Like watching. 586 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 3: Other speakers get up there, I would cry a lot, and. 587 00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,160 Speaker 2: They wouldn't be like parking speakers and be like kids 588 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,920 Speaker 2: from across the country. I would cry to other things, 589 00:28:40,920 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 2: like if I was watching a sad movie, I'd cry 590 00:28:42,440 --> 00:28:44,040 Speaker 2: a lot to that, or listening to music, I'd cry 591 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:46,920 Speaker 2: a lot to that. So there were these moments of 592 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:49,880 Speaker 2: like letting it out, but it had to be in 593 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:51,239 Speaker 2: a way where I could put it all back in 594 00:28:52,080 --> 00:28:53,960 Speaker 2: and that was the truth for a very long time. 595 00:28:56,800 --> 00:28:59,800 Speaker 2: March for Our Lives, I want to say it happened organically. 596 00:29:00,480 --> 00:29:03,080 Speaker 2: My story of joining the March for Our Lives began 597 00:29:03,120 --> 00:29:05,640 Speaker 2: when my TV production teacher, who, like I said, was 598 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,240 Speaker 2: a father figure to me. My TV production teacher texted 599 00:29:08,280 --> 00:29:10,960 Speaker 2: me and he said, Hey, I know that they're putting 600 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,080 Speaker 2: on a rally at the courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 601 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 2: which was about thirty minutes away. 602 00:29:15,920 --> 00:29:21,800 Speaker 3: Do you want to speak at it? I went to 603 00:29:21,840 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 3: the rally. There was a couple of us speaking. 604 00:29:24,080 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 2: It was me, David Hogg, X Gonzalez, Cameron Cask I 605 00:29:28,440 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 2: believe David was in TV production with me. Xually I 606 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,440 Speaker 2: had known since freshman year, and Cameron Caske I had 607 00:29:34,480 --> 00:29:36,920 Speaker 2: known through theater, which was like we worked a lot 608 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:37,960 Speaker 2: and we had a lot of overlap with. 609 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:42,440 Speaker 3: The theater program. I gave a speech and I started 610 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:43,160 Speaker 3: doing interviews. 611 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 2: We get these people who come up to us and 612 00:29:45,600 --> 00:29:47,600 Speaker 2: they're like, hey, I think it was CBS. We want 613 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:48,880 Speaker 2: to take the four of you and we want to 614 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:50,600 Speaker 2: do a sit down interview in a hotel room tonight, 615 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:52,200 Speaker 2: and we want to broadcast it. We wanted to be 616 00:29:52,200 --> 00:29:55,080 Speaker 2: like a big thing, so we did this sit down interview. 617 00:29:55,760 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 2: After the sit down interview, Cameron Caske walks up to 618 00:29:57,800 --> 00:29:59,280 Speaker 2: me and is like, Hey, come to my house tonight. 619 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:00,920 Speaker 2: And I go what he said, Yeah, come to my 620 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:02,360 Speaker 2: house tonight. I can't tell you, I'll tell you. 621 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:02,640 Speaker 1: There. 622 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:05,719 Speaker 2: I walk in, there's this huge dream of people. All 623 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,640 Speaker 2: these people that I've known for a long time are 624 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:09,280 Speaker 2: there and they're all like on the phone and they're 625 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,600 Speaker 2: organizing and they're taking calls and they're messaging, and he 626 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:15,640 Speaker 2: kind of like it calls the meeting to order. He's like, Hey, everyone, 627 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:18,080 Speaker 2: we're going to do something. And I think we're going 628 00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:19,440 Speaker 2: to do the March for our Lives and we're going 629 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:21,240 Speaker 2: to do a march on Washington And he's like, we're 630 00:30:21,240 --> 00:30:22,720 Speaker 2: going to announce it and then we're going to have 631 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:26,840 Speaker 2: it organized by March twenty fourth. Then we realize it's 632 00:30:26,880 --> 00:30:28,960 Speaker 2: going to happen. We have a month to put it together, 633 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 2: and we are all on board and signed on for 634 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:33,720 Speaker 2: this thing. So we are the March for our Lives. 635 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:38,880 Speaker 2: We decided a march would. 636 00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:40,600 Speaker 3: Be this moment to. 637 00:30:42,400 --> 00:30:46,360 Speaker 2: Show that people weren't gonna take it anymore. That it 638 00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:48,160 Speaker 2: wasn't going to be thoughts and prayers anymore. We wanted 639 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:51,479 Speaker 2: a mass mobilization. We understood the power of protest, and 640 00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:53,520 Speaker 2: that was like a thing that when you learn about 641 00:30:53,520 --> 00:30:56,200 Speaker 2: all these movements, particularly student and youth led movements, you're like, Okay, 642 00:30:56,200 --> 00:30:58,480 Speaker 2: well we're going to do this, and yeah, March on 643 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 2: Washington was ambitious, definitely ambitious. 644 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:01,720 Speaker 3: There was a little bit of fear, I think that 645 00:31:01,720 --> 00:31:03,520 Speaker 3: it wasn't going to come together in a month, but 646 00:31:03,560 --> 00:31:03,880 Speaker 3: it did. 647 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:09,480 Speaker 2: We're going to do this one thing that gives us 648 00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 2: hope for the first time in what was days but 649 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:16,880 Speaker 2: felt like an eternity. That was the first feeling of like, 650 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,400 Speaker 2: thank God, we have this thing, this thing that we 651 00:31:19,480 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 2: can do to feel something other than pain and to 652 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 2: feel hope and to push towards a positive thing that 653 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:34,320 Speaker 2: can only last so long. So pretty quickly things started 654 00:31:34,360 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 2: like you know, there's tensions, there's high school conflict, there's 655 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:42,320 Speaker 2: distrust and dislike for each other. So it evolved over 656 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 2: a period of months and devolved over a period of 657 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 2: months into like needing to have sit downs with outside 658 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 2: mediators who were like, you guys do not like each 659 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:52,560 Speaker 2: other right now, and you. 660 00:31:52,480 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 3: Are at each other's throats and we need to figure 661 00:31:54,080 --> 00:31:56,480 Speaker 3: this out. Of course, we all dated each. 662 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:58,239 Speaker 2: Other too, and that's a whole other thing of like, 663 00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,560 Speaker 2: once again, when you put a bunch of high schoolers 664 00:32:00,560 --> 00:32:02,920 Speaker 2: in our room together. We spent all of our waking 665 00:32:02,920 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 2: hours together, and we a little of it were like, 666 00:32:06,600 --> 00:32:08,960 Speaker 2: oh my god, we're changing the world. So there was 667 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,000 Speaker 2: a lot of hormones, there was a lot of unresolved 668 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,960 Speaker 2: trauma and grief, and there was a lot of responsibility 669 00:32:16,000 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 2: that we were feeling. So some friendships got really close 670 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,280 Speaker 2: and then collapsed. I made some of my best friends 671 00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,520 Speaker 2: and then lost some of my best friends in that timeframe, 672 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:26,560 Speaker 2: and they were the same people, and like, it was 673 00:32:26,640 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 2: just a constantly shifting landscape of who's okay with, who, 674 00:32:30,240 --> 00:32:32,680 Speaker 2: who can work with? Who, who likes each other, who 675 00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:35,560 Speaker 2: doesn't like each other. And that was one of those 676 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:38,680 Speaker 2: things where I'm like, in hindsight, I almost feel like 677 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:40,640 Speaker 2: we needed and it would have been impossible because were 678 00:32:40,680 --> 00:32:42,840 Speaker 2: still building an organization. I feel like we needed like 679 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 2: an HR manager or something, because we should not have 680 00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:50,040 Speaker 2: been in charge of all of that without somebody checking 681 00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 2: in on us emotionally. And eventually we kind of established 682 00:32:52,880 --> 00:32:55,440 Speaker 2: that infrastructure, but we was so baked into us to 683 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 2: not feel our emotions and not share our emotions that 684 00:32:58,200 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 2: it would just come out in all these other ways. 685 00:33:00,360 --> 00:33:02,960 Speaker 2: So I became incredibly close with them, and I feel 686 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 2: like we all are forever linked. But I also know 687 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,760 Speaker 2: that we had a lot of moments of drama, teenage 688 00:33:10,840 --> 00:33:15,600 Speaker 2: drama that was put on the national stage and also 689 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:19,800 Speaker 2: involved millions of dollars and people counting on you, which. 690 00:33:19,640 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 3: Is a really fun recipe. 691 00:33:24,720 --> 00:33:27,479 Speaker 2: We were not giving ourselves space or time to feel anything. 692 00:33:27,720 --> 00:33:29,760 Speaker 2: Nobody else is giving us space or time to feel 693 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:34,560 Speaker 2: anything like nobody's were these inspiring teenagers, And that is 694 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:35,760 Speaker 2: one of those things that I've had to break down. 695 00:33:35,680 --> 00:33:36,880 Speaker 3: Over the years of like, oh, you guys are so 696 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:37,880 Speaker 3: strong and so inspiring. 697 00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,680 Speaker 2: I'm like, yeah, but we were also so broken and 698 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:42,840 Speaker 2: what we needed in that moment, yeah, it was to 699 00:33:43,280 --> 00:33:43,600 Speaker 2: do this. 700 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:46,240 Speaker 3: But I also sometimes. 701 00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:49,880 Speaker 2: Feel regret and anger at the fact that I'm like, 702 00:33:49,880 --> 00:33:52,000 Speaker 2: why did you guys let this happen? Nobody could have 703 00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:55,240 Speaker 2: stopped us, No one could have stopped me, clearly, but 704 00:33:55,360 --> 00:33:59,040 Speaker 2: I like, damn, I wish somebody had sat us down 705 00:33:59,080 --> 00:34:03,120 Speaker 2: and kind of been like, take a beat, you know, and. 706 00:34:03,040 --> 00:34:03,440 Speaker 3: If we did. 707 00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,160 Speaker 2: Problem is if we did take a beat, keep on 708 00:34:06,240 --> 00:34:08,560 Speaker 2: moving without us, So we couldn't take a beat, like 709 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:10,839 Speaker 2: we all knew, if any of us stopped to feel 710 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,000 Speaker 2: our feelings or took a break or like backed off 711 00:34:13,040 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 2: for personal reasons, the train would keep moving and we 712 00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 2: wouldn't be able to get back on the way I 713 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 2: feel about my work with much of our lives changes 714 00:34:26,440 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 2: practically every day, particularly the more that I reflect on it. 715 00:34:30,440 --> 00:34:33,160 Speaker 2: And then also the question of did it change anything? 716 00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:38,440 Speaker 2: And I think that is a really tough thing to 717 00:34:38,520 --> 00:34:41,200 Speaker 2: grapple with for me, where I'm like, we did all that, 718 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 2: We threw our lives away for a while, we traumatize 719 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 2: ourselves and then add an entirely new level of trauma 720 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:49,359 Speaker 2: on top of it for what And then I get 721 00:34:49,360 --> 00:34:52,759 Speaker 2: angry about that. But then somebody comes up to me, 722 00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,799 Speaker 2: particularly young kid, and is like, you change things for me, 723 00:34:57,400 --> 00:35:00,000 Speaker 2: You inspired me, You made me feel like I could 724 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,719 Speaker 2: do something. The fact that it changed things for some 725 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,760 Speaker 2: kids and that it at least gave them a voice 726 00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 2: is kind of That's what I hold on too. I 727 00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:09,920 Speaker 2: used to hear it a lot more when I was 728 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 2: doing organizing actively because these kids were coming up to me. 729 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:16,560 Speaker 2: But yeah, being able to hear it now sometimes it 730 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 2: checks me a little when I get a little bit 731 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:21,799 Speaker 2: too dark and twisty about all of it, because I'm 732 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:24,800 Speaker 2: very cynical now, so that cynicism kind of bleeds into 733 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:27,360 Speaker 2: the hope that I have then, because I'm. 734 00:35:27,239 --> 00:35:29,480 Speaker 3: Not seeing the change that I wanted to. 735 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:39,360 Speaker 2: Pre shooting, I wanted to go to the University of Georgia, 736 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,280 Speaker 2: go dogs and go to journalism school. I had applied 737 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:43,839 Speaker 2: to a bunch of schools, but that was the one 738 00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:46,960 Speaker 2: I toured, and I was like, this campus is gorgeous. 739 00:35:47,320 --> 00:35:49,480 Speaker 2: I think I can do this. Grady is a great school. 740 00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 2: I'm out of state, like it was the dream for me. 741 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,439 Speaker 2: Post shooting, A bunch of adults got in my ear 742 00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,879 Speaker 2: and this was not malicious. They got in my ear 743 00:35:56,920 --> 00:35:58,720 Speaker 2: and they went, you're going to go to a state 744 00:35:58,760 --> 00:36:01,880 Speaker 2: school in Georgia. I studied journalism, you need to go 745 00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:03,440 Speaker 2: into politics. 746 00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:06,800 Speaker 3: So I negotiated. 747 00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:08,719 Speaker 2: I was like, Okay, I apply to American University in 748 00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,400 Speaker 2: DC and I'll study public policy. Because I was like, 749 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,719 Speaker 2: this is what I should be doing, and this is 750 00:36:13,760 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 2: what people keep telling me I should be doing, is 751 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:18,279 Speaker 2: going into politics and making a difference that way. I 752 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:21,440 Speaker 2: had a lot of really negative experiences with reporters and 753 00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:23,560 Speaker 2: a lot of really negative experiences with the media where 754 00:36:24,239 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 2: I felt I felt taken advantage of. I felt like 755 00:36:27,640 --> 00:36:30,560 Speaker 2: boundaries were crossed, and seeing firsthand the way the media 756 00:36:30,600 --> 00:36:34,799 Speaker 2: industry worked, the way the machine worked to us, I 757 00:36:34,840 --> 00:36:35,960 Speaker 2: was like, Oh, my god, do I want to be 758 00:36:36,000 --> 00:36:36,600 Speaker 2: a part of this? 759 00:36:37,160 --> 00:36:38,440 Speaker 3: Do I even want to be a journalist? 760 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,120 Speaker 2: So I really started questioning that, and I'm getting all 761 00:36:41,160 --> 00:36:43,480 Speaker 2: this feedback of out like no, do politics, do politics? 762 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:44,719 Speaker 3: Or you could be really good at it. 763 00:36:45,160 --> 00:36:48,320 Speaker 2: So I applied to American, I got in. I applied 764 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,200 Speaker 2: to UGA, I got in. I remember getting really excited 765 00:36:51,200 --> 00:36:53,560 Speaker 2: when I found out I was accepted to UGA because 766 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:55,960 Speaker 2: it was something that I had done completely independent of 767 00:36:55,960 --> 00:36:58,040 Speaker 2: the shooting. When I got into American, I didn't feel 768 00:36:58,080 --> 00:37:00,319 Speaker 2: as excited because I also would have only been able 769 00:37:00,320 --> 00:37:02,880 Speaker 2: to afford one semester of tuition and then from there 770 00:37:02,920 --> 00:37:04,000 Speaker 2: I would have had to figure it out. 771 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:06,759 Speaker 3: And the moment that I. 772 00:37:06,000 --> 00:37:08,920 Speaker 2: I backtracked on all of that, it was a college 773 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:10,840 Speaker 2: decision day in high school where you wear the shirt 774 00:37:11,520 --> 00:37:14,360 Speaker 2: from the college that you're going to, and I remember 775 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:17,319 Speaker 2: being like I had some UGA merch because I wanted 776 00:37:17,320 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 2: to go to UGA. I was like, I don't have 777 00:37:19,680 --> 00:37:23,080 Speaker 2: any American University merch and I was like, they don't 778 00:37:23,120 --> 00:37:25,440 Speaker 2: even have like a college culture. I would just be 779 00:37:25,480 --> 00:37:28,000 Speaker 2: going there and being in the city. And my friend 780 00:37:28,320 --> 00:37:30,839 Speaker 2: who was going to go to UGA later backed out, 781 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:33,160 Speaker 2: was wearing her UGA shirt and I was wearing a 782 00:37:33,160 --> 00:37:35,440 Speaker 2: stupid like maybe blue T shirt. And I was like, 783 00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:38,600 Speaker 2: uh oh, I don't feel excited about this. I don't 784 00:37:38,640 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 2: feel happy about this. And I panicked. That was the 785 00:37:42,200 --> 00:37:44,000 Speaker 2: day that, like you had to It was the day 786 00:37:44,040 --> 00:37:47,160 Speaker 2: after deposits were due. So I emailed UGA and like 787 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:49,160 Speaker 2: a panic, I was like, can I please come? Can 788 00:37:49,160 --> 00:37:50,719 Speaker 2: I please come here instead? I know I did not 789 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:53,160 Speaker 2: commit here. I know I missed the deadline, but I 790 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:55,680 Speaker 2: really want to go here more than anything, And can 791 00:37:55,719 --> 00:37:57,080 Speaker 2: I come and can I defer a semester? 792 00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,720 Speaker 3: And they said yes. So I lost six. 793 00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,160 Speaker 2: Hundred dollar on the American University deposit. I put down 794 00:38:02,160 --> 00:38:05,400 Speaker 2: the deposit for UGA, and I made what was the 795 00:38:05,400 --> 00:38:08,680 Speaker 2: first decision for me in a long time, because I 796 00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:11,960 Speaker 2: knew that would mean going out of state, going away 797 00:38:12,040 --> 00:38:16,240 Speaker 2: from the whole nonprofit organization, going away from the political 798 00:38:16,280 --> 00:38:20,680 Speaker 2: machine and being a college student. So I decided to 799 00:38:20,680 --> 00:38:23,440 Speaker 2: be a college student, and I decided to give journalism 800 00:38:23,480 --> 00:38:30,640 Speaker 2: a chance and hope that I could change it. There's 801 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,480 Speaker 2: been a lot of changes and I think phases that 802 00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:38,480 Speaker 2: I've gone through. I have never been religious. I know, 803 00:38:38,480 --> 00:38:40,360 Speaker 2: I was not raised with religion, so I did not 804 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:43,400 Speaker 2: find religion. Sometimes I think maybe that would have been 805 00:38:43,400 --> 00:38:46,560 Speaker 2: a comfort. But I'm fine without it. I'm managed without it. 806 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:49,880 Speaker 2: I found other ways, and a lot of that involved 807 00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,960 Speaker 2: being introspective and looking at my own feelings. 808 00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 3: But I did kind of transform a couple of times. 809 00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,000 Speaker 3: So for me, there's like chunks. 810 00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:02,000 Speaker 2: The chunk of me going to college it was almost 811 00:39:03,480 --> 00:39:07,160 Speaker 2: I was trying so hard to be young again, so 812 00:39:07,200 --> 00:39:11,319 Speaker 2: I got really into, you know, nonsensical stuff like I 813 00:39:11,400 --> 00:39:14,400 Speaker 2: didn't want it to be serious unless I decided it 814 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:17,600 Speaker 2: was serious. So I took a lot of you know, comfort. 815 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:20,799 Speaker 3: In watching like stupid cartoons and bad. 816 00:39:20,600 --> 00:39:23,719 Speaker 2: Movies and like listening to what I liked, whether or 817 00:39:23,800 --> 00:39:27,560 Speaker 2: not that was considered cool enough. Because once I got 818 00:39:27,560 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 2: to college, it was a lot of these kids who 819 00:39:29,040 --> 00:39:34,120 Speaker 2: were like I read Hagel and I only watch esoteric 820 00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:35,879 Speaker 2: films and like a lot of people who are trying 821 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:39,239 Speaker 2: very hard to seem like they're mature, And there were 822 00:39:39,239 --> 00:39:42,680 Speaker 2: some moments where I think people kind of I don't 823 00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,279 Speaker 2: think they thought it was immature, but I think I 824 00:39:45,400 --> 00:39:46,960 Speaker 2: seemed like maybe I didn't. 825 00:39:46,680 --> 00:39:47,319 Speaker 3: Know as much. 826 00:39:47,360 --> 00:39:49,960 Speaker 2: But it was largely because I realized I had already 827 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,160 Speaker 2: lived way more lifetimes than these people, and a lot 828 00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:54,320 Speaker 2: of them were trying to substitute for a lack of living, 829 00:39:54,800 --> 00:39:57,640 Speaker 2: whereas I had experienced all of this hell on earth 830 00:39:57,920 --> 00:40:01,960 Speaker 2: and I didn't really need to be substituting it by 831 00:40:02,560 --> 00:40:06,360 Speaker 2: living vicariously through something else. So I was very adamant 832 00:40:06,400 --> 00:40:08,560 Speaker 2: about the fact that I wanted to preserve that nonsense 833 00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:10,600 Speaker 2: and preserve that frivolity and silliness. 834 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,120 Speaker 3: So I worked very hard to get that back, and 835 00:40:14,160 --> 00:40:17,120 Speaker 3: then COVID hit that way through college. 836 00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:22,840 Speaker 2: I was very fresh when I went to college, it 837 00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:24,719 Speaker 2: was and that was one of things when I was 838 00:40:24,719 --> 00:40:27,680 Speaker 2: looking at hindsight, I was like, oh, I was not 839 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:31,279 Speaker 2: far enough removed from anything to be healed, but I 840 00:40:31,320 --> 00:40:34,520 Speaker 2: had convinced myself I was healed. And then understanding that 841 00:40:34,560 --> 00:40:38,000 Speaker 2: it's been like a long process that started happening post COVID, 842 00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:42,040 Speaker 2: where I was like, Okay, I need to really understand 843 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:43,879 Speaker 2: like how I've been dealing with these things and what 844 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,440 Speaker 2: it means for me to deal with my emotions the 845 00:40:46,440 --> 00:40:49,359 Speaker 2: way I have, and understand why I'm so closed off, 846 00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:53,760 Speaker 2: understand why my impulse is to write about these things 847 00:40:53,760 --> 00:40:55,520 Speaker 2: because it's safe to write about it where I can 848 00:40:55,600 --> 00:40:58,000 Speaker 2: have control over the narrative and I can perform it 849 00:40:58,040 --> 00:40:59,920 Speaker 2: and deliver it in the way that I want versus 850 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:07,560 Speaker 2: really feeling it. Does that mean that I, you know, 851 00:41:07,680 --> 00:41:09,800 Speaker 2: changed the behavior. No, it means that I just I 852 00:41:10,239 --> 00:41:12,920 Speaker 2: got it a little bit more and like learning how 853 00:41:12,920 --> 00:41:15,760 Speaker 2: to open up to people and just kind of figure 854 00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:20,560 Speaker 2: out who I would be as DeLine guitar not Delane 855 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:24,279 Speaker 2: guitar youth activist, because my entire identity had been built 856 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:26,200 Speaker 2: around that for so long and it was one of 857 00:41:26,200 --> 00:41:29,160 Speaker 2: those things that even though it was, you know, in 858 00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:32,279 Speaker 2: the long run, not a crazy amount of time to 859 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:34,480 Speaker 2: be super involved, it was an identity that followed me. 860 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:39,399 Speaker 2: So I, you know, I didn't distance myself from it, 861 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,840 Speaker 2: but I did try and like incorporate into myself but 862 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,759 Speaker 2: not let it dominate myself. And that became part of 863 00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:46,960 Speaker 2: it too, where I was like, this is one part 864 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:49,200 Speaker 2: of my identity, but I've lived enough since then that 865 00:41:49,239 --> 00:41:51,480 Speaker 2: it's not the only part of my identity. And I've 866 00:41:51,480 --> 00:41:54,040 Speaker 2: made enough friendships and had enough experiences since then that 867 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:57,800 Speaker 2: I can be more than that thing. Whereas post shooting 868 00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,800 Speaker 2: like that was the thing, everything else felt are the 869 00:41:59,800 --> 00:42:08,400 Speaker 2: way side. I'm still understanding things, but I've been specifically 870 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:11,640 Speaker 2: writing about it a lot lately, and that has forced 871 00:42:11,680 --> 00:42:13,680 Speaker 2: me to confront a lot of things that I forgot about, 872 00:42:13,760 --> 00:42:15,360 Speaker 2: a lot of things that I maybe didn't put the 873 00:42:15,360 --> 00:42:18,279 Speaker 2: pieces together on. So I feel like I'm at a 874 00:42:18,360 --> 00:42:20,520 Speaker 2: new point of understanding of myself and at a new 875 00:42:20,520 --> 00:42:23,760 Speaker 2: point of like grappling with myself. I feel like a person, 876 00:42:24,280 --> 00:42:26,520 Speaker 2: and I don't think I felt like a person after 877 00:42:26,520 --> 00:42:29,279 Speaker 2: the fact, but I'm a different person, you know, And 878 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,440 Speaker 2: I think everybody that I know now really understands that 879 00:42:31,480 --> 00:42:34,040 Speaker 2: about me and is conscious of it in a way 880 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:35,440 Speaker 2: that I think is really beautiful and loving. 881 00:43:00,120 --> 00:43:02,600 Speaker 1: Welcome back to Alive again, joining me for a conversation 882 00:43:02,640 --> 00:43:05,760 Speaker 1: about today's story. Are my other Alive against story producers 883 00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:10,080 Speaker 1: Nicholas Dakowski and print Day, and I'm your host, Dan Bush. 884 00:43:10,440 --> 00:43:15,520 Speaker 4: You know what drew me to Delaney's story is the 885 00:43:15,520 --> 00:43:21,759 Speaker 4: fact that we are surrounded by this decades long epidemic 886 00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:27,319 Speaker 4: of gun violence in this country. And you know, one 887 00:43:27,360 --> 00:43:31,320 Speaker 4: thing that we don't get to hear a lot is 888 00:43:31,400 --> 00:43:33,920 Speaker 4: sort of how what the long term effects are on 889 00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:36,440 Speaker 4: the people who go through this. We hear the stories 890 00:43:36,480 --> 00:43:39,520 Speaker 4: of what happened in the moment, you know, and we 891 00:43:39,600 --> 00:43:43,960 Speaker 4: go and this is a sickness in our society. I 892 00:43:44,000 --> 00:43:47,319 Speaker 4: think that, like true crime is a symptom of like 893 00:43:47,440 --> 00:43:50,759 Speaker 4: true crime shows and podcasts for the fascination with that 894 00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:54,360 Speaker 4: symptom of this sickness. We want to like it's like 895 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:58,440 Speaker 4: we want to know everything about the evil, you know, 896 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:02,480 Speaker 4: the quote unquote what causes it was, what was in 897 00:44:02,520 --> 00:44:05,799 Speaker 4: his brain that made him this way, But we never 898 00:44:06,040 --> 00:44:10,000 Speaker 4: fucking focus on like the long term effects has the 899 00:44:10,040 --> 00:44:13,440 Speaker 4: people who are victims of this stuff, Like they're interesting 900 00:44:14,480 --> 00:44:17,040 Speaker 4: in that they can tell us what happens, They can 901 00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:19,760 Speaker 4: give us all the gruesome details, but like nobody seems 902 00:44:19,800 --> 00:44:22,799 Speaker 4: to give a shit what happens once the cameras are 903 00:44:22,800 --> 00:44:25,759 Speaker 4: turned off and they have to like go home and 904 00:44:25,840 --> 00:44:30,200 Speaker 4: these seventeen year olds have to like sleep at night 905 00:44:30,360 --> 00:44:31,960 Speaker 4: and eat food. 906 00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:36,960 Speaker 5: What struck me about her telling of this was how 907 00:44:37,239 --> 00:44:41,839 Speaker 5: lighthearted and humorous she was able to make her presentation. 908 00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:44,920 Speaker 5: I mean, she'd gone through this traumatic thing, and she 909 00:44:45,040 --> 00:44:50,320 Speaker 5: still carried this joy, this natural personality. 910 00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:53,680 Speaker 4: And I hopefully she wouldn't be insulted by this. But 911 00:44:53,719 --> 00:44:56,560 Speaker 4: she also has like theater kid energy, you know, this 912 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:00,120 Speaker 4: like intellectual curiosity and excitement, you know. I think think 913 00:45:00,160 --> 00:45:03,560 Speaker 4: that's just her personality. She tells the story well because 914 00:45:03,560 --> 00:45:07,120 Speaker 4: she's it's not just because she's an excellent storyteller at heart, 915 00:45:07,160 --> 00:45:10,719 Speaker 4: but because she's practiced in telling it. One of these 916 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:12,759 Speaker 4: one of the aspects of this story. And I think 917 00:45:12,840 --> 00:45:15,880 Speaker 4: the thing that was the most interesting to me was 918 00:45:15,880 --> 00:45:22,560 Speaker 4: that not only she survived this experience of being right 919 00:45:22,640 --> 00:45:25,400 Speaker 4: there at death's door, and it was super important and 920 00:45:26,120 --> 00:45:29,520 Speaker 4: something that happens constantly in this country, but she also 921 00:45:29,880 --> 00:45:35,440 Speaker 4: went through the experience of becoming famous for having this 922 00:45:35,560 --> 00:45:40,240 Speaker 4: trauma before her and went out on a speaking tour 923 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:45,040 Speaker 4: before she'd had a moment to process this, before she'd 924 00:45:45,080 --> 00:45:49,120 Speaker 4: had before a week had passed, she'd already done a 925 00:45:49,160 --> 00:45:52,680 Speaker 4: half dozen interviews, and they were already planning March for 926 00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:57,799 Speaker 4: our lives, like days after days after people they knew 927 00:45:57,800 --> 00:46:03,720 Speaker 4: were killed were murdered. So you know, she she became 928 00:46:03,840 --> 00:46:07,120 Speaker 4: very practiced to telling a story before she'd even processed it. 929 00:46:07,560 --> 00:46:11,600 Speaker 4: And she was seventeen when it happened, So she has 930 00:46:11,640 --> 00:46:14,240 Speaker 4: all of these different things going on in her skull 931 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,279 Speaker 4: before she before she even has this traumatic event and 932 00:46:18,400 --> 00:46:22,240 Speaker 4: is thrust into the limelight. So all of these horrifically 933 00:46:22,320 --> 00:46:26,000 Speaker 4: traumatic Like that in itself was deeply traumatic, is that 934 00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:29,239 Speaker 4: she was basically put in front of cameras, you know, 935 00:46:30,000 --> 00:46:33,840 Speaker 4: vilified by a large percentage of the right, or just 936 00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:39,920 Speaker 4: outright dismissed as being stupid kids who are just out 937 00:46:39,960 --> 00:46:42,800 Speaker 4: there speaking about their experience and going like, hey, maybe 938 00:46:43,600 --> 00:46:46,279 Speaker 4: if this guy didn't have a gun, that could have 939 00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:49,600 Speaker 4: murdered a lot of people quickly, a lot of people 940 00:46:49,640 --> 00:46:52,760 Speaker 4: would not be dead. And maybe that is the case 941 00:46:53,280 --> 00:46:56,800 Speaker 4: in many places. And you know, these kids are villified 942 00:46:56,840 --> 00:47:01,240 Speaker 4: for this. So the fact that Delaney, six gant years later, 943 00:47:01,680 --> 00:47:04,800 Speaker 4: is able to have a sense of humor about this stuff, 944 00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:09,960 Speaker 4: is able to be vulnerable even a little bit, is 945 00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:14,640 Speaker 4: amazing and it speaks very well to her character and 946 00:47:14,680 --> 00:47:17,319 Speaker 4: to the character of a lot of the kids who 947 00:47:17,360 --> 00:47:19,240 Speaker 4: went on to do March for Our Lives. 948 00:47:19,320 --> 00:47:22,399 Speaker 5: Yeah, she seemed to question the effectiveness of what they 949 00:47:22,400 --> 00:47:26,279 Speaker 5: had done, and I think, you know, you're a teenager, 950 00:47:26,360 --> 00:47:31,600 Speaker 5: you're growing emotionally personally through this period. What a difficult 951 00:47:31,600 --> 00:47:34,439 Speaker 5: thing to be thrust in the limelight the way they were. 952 00:47:35,080 --> 00:47:40,880 Speaker 5: But to me, it was an incredibly inspiring thing. The 953 00:47:40,920 --> 00:47:44,799 Speaker 5: way they pulled together, the smartness of how they use 954 00:47:44,880 --> 00:47:46,839 Speaker 5: social media, how they turned a lot of these NRA 955 00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:50,120 Speaker 5: arguments on their head. And the fact that NRA is 956 00:47:50,840 --> 00:47:53,880 Speaker 5: tumbling because of their own financial problems, not because of 957 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:56,759 Speaker 5: anything that this society has done to rise up and 958 00:47:56,760 --> 00:47:59,520 Speaker 5: stop these things from happening, is so discouraging. But I 959 00:47:59,520 --> 00:48:01,600 Speaker 5: don't think she or any of the kids who are 960 00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,640 Speaker 5: involved in March for Our Lives should ever question what 961 00:48:04,680 --> 00:48:07,759 Speaker 5: they did. I mean, it was to me a heroic 962 00:48:07,880 --> 00:48:10,600 Speaker 5: act and as a very core of what makes this 963 00:48:10,640 --> 00:48:13,600 Speaker 5: country great is when people see it wrong and they 964 00:48:13,640 --> 00:48:15,799 Speaker 5: get together and they address it. I thought they were 965 00:48:15,840 --> 00:48:20,160 Speaker 5: so smart and how Yeah, she should be perpetually proud 966 00:48:20,160 --> 00:48:20,320 Speaker 5: of what. 967 00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:23,480 Speaker 4: I agree with you. I think that like so often, 968 00:48:23,680 --> 00:48:28,600 Speaker 4: we get so bogged down in arguments about the guns 969 00:48:28,680 --> 00:48:34,239 Speaker 4: themselves that we we literally overlook the humanity of the 970 00:48:34,280 --> 00:48:36,960 Speaker 4: people who are who are in front of the guns 971 00:48:37,000 --> 00:48:40,279 Speaker 4: getting shot at, and I think that, you know, I 972 00:48:40,320 --> 00:48:43,680 Speaker 4: think that, like Delaney has been asked a million times 973 00:48:43,840 --> 00:48:46,640 Speaker 4: what she felt like that day, She's been asked a 974 00:48:46,680 --> 00:48:49,640 Speaker 4: million times about like the work that she does for 975 00:48:50,080 --> 00:48:52,920 Speaker 4: March for our lives. Because of the nature of what 976 00:48:53,000 --> 00:48:55,880 Speaker 4: we're doing in this show, we're less focused on the 977 00:48:55,920 --> 00:48:58,840 Speaker 4: event themselves than how the event affects you as a 978 00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:04,160 Speaker 4: human being. So our show necessarily is asking what happened later. 979 00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:08,640 Speaker 1: It's almost it's almost like her transformation had to do 980 00:49:08,680 --> 00:49:13,520 Speaker 1: more with navigating for six years the waters of the 981 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:16,000 Speaker 1: student movement and of being in the line in the 982 00:49:16,040 --> 00:49:20,160 Speaker 1: spotlight as a teenager. I expected to hear like, oh, this, 983 00:49:20,160 --> 00:49:23,279 Speaker 1: this shooting happened and it made me, you know, our 984 00:49:23,320 --> 00:49:27,040 Speaker 1: typical sort of what we always hear about about these 985 00:49:27,080 --> 00:49:32,000 Speaker 1: experiences being immediately transformative. I think what was fascinating about 986 00:49:32,000 --> 00:49:35,480 Speaker 1: her story was the events after after the actual incident, 987 00:49:35,560 --> 00:49:38,080 Speaker 1: that that train that spoke to her transformation. 988 00:49:38,239 --> 00:49:41,720 Speaker 5: I love that she's planning in the hour before the shooting. 989 00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:44,200 Speaker 5: She's texting with her dad. He's going to make his 990 00:49:44,880 --> 00:49:47,960 Speaker 5: dinner for them. You know, she's planning her evening. The 991 00:49:48,040 --> 00:49:50,560 Speaker 5: shooting happens and she goes home and they eat the 992 00:49:50,600 --> 00:49:53,480 Speaker 5: dinner that was planned in the night, presites as planned. 993 00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:56,440 Speaker 5: I I love those little details. I love that her 994 00:49:56,440 --> 00:49:59,240 Speaker 5: mom texts her, don't fart in there while the shooting 995 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:02,680 Speaker 5: is going on. That the these moments where they're under 996 00:50:02,719 --> 00:50:06,840 Speaker 5: extreme darrest, but there's still this relationship with her parents. 997 00:50:06,840 --> 00:50:09,960 Speaker 5: There's still a time for brevity, for humor, there's still 998 00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:13,160 Speaker 5: right She's still a high school kid. You know, we 999 00:50:13,239 --> 00:50:19,280 Speaker 5: see a day. She presents the day as a normal 1000 00:50:19,760 --> 00:50:20,239 Speaker 5: day for. 1001 00:50:20,239 --> 00:50:21,080 Speaker 1: Any high school kid. 1002 00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:23,880 Speaker 5: It was Valentine's Day. They weren't paying attention to their classes, 1003 00:50:23,880 --> 00:50:26,880 Speaker 5: they were excited about Valentine's Day. They're playing these things 1004 00:50:27,160 --> 00:50:29,840 Speaker 5: and then it's almost like seventh period. The shooter comes 1005 00:50:31,000 --> 00:50:34,640 Speaker 5: and up ends our lives, and then we are expected 1006 00:50:34,680 --> 00:50:37,360 Speaker 5: to go back into our normal routines. What she does, 1007 00:50:38,520 --> 00:50:41,080 Speaker 5: but then, you know how quickly they seize that moment 1008 00:50:41,120 --> 00:50:44,520 Speaker 5: to say, you know, fuck no, man, this has happened enough. 1009 00:50:44,560 --> 00:50:46,879 Speaker 5: I mean the fact that she's hiding in her closet, going, 1010 00:50:47,200 --> 00:50:49,320 Speaker 5: my god, I was just talking to my mom about 1011 00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:50,960 Speaker 5: what I would do in this situation. 1012 00:50:51,480 --> 00:50:56,080 Speaker 1: I love how she and and the other students that 1013 00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:58,200 Speaker 1: were part of the movement with or refused to acknowledge 1014 00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:01,759 Speaker 1: the shooter's name. That's what the shooter wants, that's all 1015 00:51:01,760 --> 00:51:06,960 Speaker 1: they want. But in our case, there is a direct 1016 00:51:07,360 --> 00:51:11,560 Speaker 1: result from the Parkland shooting that shows its face in 1017 00:51:11,640 --> 00:51:16,160 Speaker 1: the next story, Aileen Murray's because that shooter on that 1018 00:51:16,200 --> 00:51:18,960 Speaker 1: bridge for Aileen Murray's story, guess what he was. He 1019 00:51:19,000 --> 00:51:21,920 Speaker 1: was inspired by the manifesto of the Parkland shooters. 1020 00:51:22,080 --> 00:51:24,800 Speaker 5: Yeah, and he almost killed a good friend of mine. 1021 00:51:25,200 --> 00:51:26,520 Speaker 4: Yeah. 1022 00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,600 Speaker 1: So it is you know, to talk about the perfasiveness 1023 00:51:29,719 --> 00:51:33,920 Speaker 1: of this, and and and and then both stories, it's 1024 00:51:33,960 --> 00:51:36,800 Speaker 1: sort of, you know, it's we could be so easy 1025 00:51:36,840 --> 00:51:39,239 Speaker 1: to be again. This comes up again and a lot 1026 00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:42,120 Speaker 1: of our stories of like the idea of victimhood and 1027 00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:46,000 Speaker 1: who's the victim and kind of like in Manuel Beo's 1028 00:51:46,040 --> 00:51:48,799 Speaker 1: story of he was the victim, but his captors and 1029 00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:51,359 Speaker 1: his uh, the cartel that abducted him, and the kids 1030 00:51:51,360 --> 00:51:54,080 Speaker 1: who were forced to torture him, they were also victims. 1031 00:51:54,760 --> 00:51:58,360 Speaker 1: And it's hard to deep dig down, but these I 1032 00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:00,920 Speaker 1: wonder if these stories point us towards that, how do 1033 00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:05,040 Speaker 1: you have compassion for this person who's lost their humanity, 1034 00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:08,879 Speaker 1: this person who's in you know, and we talk about 1035 00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:11,680 Speaker 1: Eileen Murray's story. She also says, I don't feel bad. 1036 00:52:11,880 --> 00:52:14,799 Speaker 1: You know, I don't have hatred for the shooter. I 1037 00:52:14,800 --> 00:52:17,000 Speaker 1: have hatred for the politicians. I have hatred for the 1038 00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:21,319 Speaker 1: legal system. I have hatred for the insurance companies. It's 1039 00:52:21,320 --> 00:52:23,239 Speaker 1: so easy for us to and we're so trained to go. 1040 00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:28,080 Speaker 1: You know, the monster is this individual or their parents 1041 00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,600 Speaker 1: that you know, at what point do we all start 1042 00:52:31,600 --> 00:52:39,480 Speaker 1: to take responsibility. Next time I'm Alive again, we meet 1043 00:52:39,520 --> 00:52:43,440 Speaker 1: Aaron Ralston, who's solo Canyon expedition turned into a harrowing 1044 00:52:43,560 --> 00:52:46,359 Speaker 1: fight for survival. Trapped for days with no escape, Aaron 1045 00:52:46,400 --> 00:52:49,040 Speaker 1: made the unthinkable decision to amputate his own arm in 1046 00:52:49,120 --> 00:52:51,040 Speaker 1: order to save his life. I step out of my 1047 00:52:51,120 --> 00:52:55,440 Speaker 1: grave and into my life. And that is when I 1048 00:52:55,440 --> 00:52:57,759 Speaker 1: almost passed out, but not from the pain, but from 1049 00:52:57,800 --> 00:53:01,080 Speaker 1: the infinite possibility of having. 1050 00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:01,600 Speaker 3: A life again. 1051 00:53:02,000 --> 00:53:04,880 Speaker 1: His incredible story, immortalized in the film one hundred and 1052 00:53:04,880 --> 00:53:07,880 Speaker 1: twenty seven Hours, is a testament to the boundless strength 1053 00:53:07,920 --> 00:53:10,919 Speaker 1: of the human will in the drive to survive even 1054 00:53:10,960 --> 00:53:18,840 Speaker 1: when all hope seems lost. Our story producers are Dan Bush, 1055 00:53:19,160 --> 00:53:24,400 Speaker 1: Kate Sweeney, Brent Die Nicholas Dakoski and Lauren Vogelbaum. Music 1056 00:53:24,400 --> 00:53:28,440 Speaker 1: by Ben Lovett, Additional music by Alexander Rodriguez. Our executive 1057 00:53:28,440 --> 00:53:31,680 Speaker 1: producers are Matthew Frederick and Trevor Young. Special thanks to 1058 00:53:31,719 --> 00:53:35,960 Speaker 1: Alexander Williams for additional production support. Our studio engineers are 1059 00:53:36,000 --> 00:53:39,760 Speaker 1: Rima El Kali and Nomes Griffin. Today's episode was edited 1060 00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:43,960 Speaker 1: by Mike w Anderson, mixing by Ben Lovett and Alexander Rodriguez. 1061 00:53:44,520 --> 00:53:48,919 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Dan Bush. Special thanks to Delaney Tarr 1062 00:53:48,960 --> 00:53:51,839 Speaker 1: for sharing her story. For more about Delaney and her work, 1063 00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:56,560 Speaker 1: visit her website Delaney Tar dot WordPress dot com. To 1064 00:53:56,640 --> 00:53:58,360 Speaker 1: learn more about March for Our Lives and how you 1065 00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:01,200 Speaker 1: can get involved, go to Mark for OurLives dot org. 1066 00:54:02,160 --> 00:54:04,320 Speaker 1: Alive Again as a production of I R Radio and 1067 00:54:04,400 --> 00:54:08,480 Speaker 1: Psychopia Pictures. If you have a transformative near death experience 1068 00:54:08,560 --> 00:54:11,400 Speaker 1: to share, we'd love to hear your story. Please email 1069 00:54:11,520 --> 00:54:15,920 Speaker 1: us at Alive Again project at gmail dot com. That's 1070 00:54:16,400 --> 00:54:19,160 Speaker 1: a l I v E A g A I N 1071 00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:49,360 Speaker 1: P R O j E C T at gmail dot com.