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By Gia Cardinale | Phoenix
In Kindergarten, I loved playing hide-and-go-seek, and tag. I always tried to find the best little spot to become invisible, and I always wanted to be the fastest runner on the playground. Little did I know, the silly games I played when I was 5 might end up saving my life one day.
Every year we have lockdown drills, and as we’ve gotten older, they’ve become more serious and unnerving. Right now, my little sister doesn’t understand why she can’t have the “cool shoes that light up,” but I do. She can’t have them because if a shooter were to enter the school and see the neon glow of her shoes, she might become a target.
And right now, she still thinks the exit signs are important in the case of a fire, but I think they’re important because students need to know where the nearest doors are when they’re running for their lives.
Every morning for 10 years, my mom has said, “I love you! Have a great day and be nice to everyone.” She hasn’t just been saying this out of the kindness of her heart. But rather, because she knows the odds of someone at our school becoming violent are higher than ever.
Now, I’m a freshman and I have been friends with everyone, from the quiet outcasts to the loudest extroverts in the room. This isn’t something anyone should have to think about, but I hope that if one of my peers comes to school one day with a gun, they might remember my kindness and spare my life.
When I was 5, hide-and-go-seek was just a game. Now it's a skill I hope I will never have to use in real life.
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