I Accept the Challenge

I have a new friend today. Her name is Rachel. Her birthday was on August 5th. She is from Colorado. She's the middle child of five. Two older sisters named Bethanee and Dana and two younger brothers named Craig and Mike. She loves writing. She has six journals. She also loves God, her life, her family. She's the most postitive person I know. I've know Rachel for a few days, but she doesn't know me. My new friend Rachel has never met me. I have never met her personally. I probably won't for a long time. But I know so much about her.

Rachel Joy Scott was the first student to be shot and killed at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999.

A speaker for the program Rachel's challenge came to my school on September 28.. His name is Dave Gamach and he is a family friend of the Scott's.


April 20 was the first warm day of spring that year. She sat outside the building for lunch to eat with a friend and enjoy the nice weather. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold at entered the building through that door. These two boys shot her in the leg, pulled her by the hair and shot her in the head. But I forgive them. They murdured my friend, and I forgive them. I forgive them because Rachel would want us to.

Three months before her death, Rachel wrote a paper about her Ethics. She said that she had a theory that you can start a chain reaction just by being kind to someone. Maybe just by smiling or brigtening their day a little bit. She believed she could change the world one person at a time. In this paper, she challenged the readed not once, but twice to be nice to everyone, just to make their day better and to start a chain reaction.
About 2 miles away, Eric and Dylan were sitting in their basement recording a video about starting a chain reaction. Their's however, was about violence and hate. The idea that two people can have the smae method but entirely different motives astounded me.
The difference? Rachel wanted to change the world for the better. Eric and Dyln wanted to destroy it.

But are Eric and Dylan really the ones to blame? It's hard to answer. Dylan and Eric were bullied all throught middle and high school. Once, someone through a cup of human fecal matter at them. They also kept journals throughout high school about some of the terrible things people did to them. Others argue that they over reacted to the bullying. The could've gotten help... Me? I don't have an opinion. I do feel however that if people were nicer to Eric and Dylan, Rachel would still be here. They'd all still be here. Living life to the fullest, cherishing every moment.

You can start a chain reaction. Be nicer. Don't react with violence. Try to change the world one person at a time. Be like Rachel. Accept the Challenge.