As I write this post, our nation is still dealing with the aftermath of the senseless and tragic deaths of seventeen high school students in Parkland, FL just twelve days ago.  The ramifications are many fold and the finger pointing and defensiveness over missed clues will go on for a while longer.

Two aspects of the story stand out for me, and many others—one potentially tragic the other potentially heroic.  I say “potentially” for both points because the story is still being written and/or investigated.  Only time will tell the full story.

The potential heroes emerging out of the story are the impressive surviving students who are intelligent, articulate, and extremely motivated by personal experiences that few people could ever even imagine enduring.  It is encouraging to see their tenacity to seize the moment and call for balanced and responsible action to prevent future school shootings.  #NeverAgain is the hashtag of a movement whose time may be now.

Often, survivors of a tragedy are plagued be survivor guilt.  I imagine some of the Parkland students may be experiencing that.  But I can only imagine that more would be suffering needlessly had it not been for the courageous response of the students who chose to fight.  Those courageous students who raised their voice to call for action have given the Parkland survivors—indeed students from around the country—the courage to rally together and to speak out as the nation takes notice.  May their tribe increase.

The other side of the story—the potentially tragic figure—will have to wait for the next post.  The potential heroes deserve the spotlight for now.