Today I wanted to write about something that occurred at my school. There was a peaceful protest today. I had seen some posters on my friends' phones advertising it. It seemed a bit random- what spurred this protest against "sexism, racism and homophobia" One girl from my English class said it was a protest against inequality. Upon listening and talking to others, it's to either to protest a new club coming to Ferris or to protest a "Republican" club already at Ferris. I don't know which one to believe, so I will take both with a grain of salt and keep wondering. I found this very interesting that they're doing this, I would consider there isn't any great inequality at our school. Maybe they're protesting the bigger picture. Maybe they really is a club. If I told this to others, they would be "Oh, of course you don't see any inequality, you're a straight white girl." The only thing that could apply to me is sexism- but I truly don't see any problems, so I don't feel like I need to get up and share my voice. But wait, that's what I'm doing here, but in a different way. It was interesting seeing this play out in my life. I've heard of people protesting at schools, but it's never happened here before until now. The teachers are just marking the students absent if they don't show up to class and go to the protest instead. If they get they're absence excused, it's all good. The biggest thing that stuck out to me was when I walked by them through our courtyard. A group of students lined both sides of one of the sidewalks, so some students would have to walk through them. Seeing students walk through them, I felt this feeling of shame, or condescension in a way. It felt like "Why aren't you supporting our cause?" It also seemed very much like an "us vs. them" dynamic. I felt tension in the air, and it felt very polarized. It was very interesting to sense that. When I first walked out, I felt my stomach drop, and I was a bit nervous. Regardless of how I felt and whether or not I agreed with what my fellow students were doing, I am very grateful to live in a country where all are free to share their voice. Sure, sometimes unfortunate things happen when people share their voice, but in this country it feels like people actually have the sense that they are allowed to share their voice. It's pretty remarkable.