With all the signs posted around campus right now, it’s pretty difficult to miss that there’s a new apartment complex at 32nd and Race streets — just a block away from most of the freshman dorms.

At first glance, this might seem like another convenient location for more students to live, but the building is not actually leasing to students. Instead, this apartment complex, built on Drexel’s campus, is targeting employees of nearby universities and medical centers.

Vue32 actually signed a contract with University City that it wouldn’t, under any circumstances, lease to undergraduates.

Despite this, the building is advertising all over campus with dozens of signs that make it clear that the building is now offering tours and leases, which seems like an insult to undergrads, given that most of the people who pass these signs can’t actually live there. And while the building is targeting staff, faculty and graduate students, this is a fairly small proportion of the people walking through campus on a daily basis.

Also, Drexel housing is going through a lot of changes right now. This year, North Hall is being converted into an entirely freshman dorm, and not all freshmen students have yet been assigned a room. Admissions staff are having to add a lot more triples than in past years. This is a huge problem, and makes me think that Vue32’s plot of land would be far better used for building more freshman housing, especially as it’s already so close to the existing dorms.

In my opinion, it’s far more important to provide good, spacious housing for freshmen (most of whom are new to the city, to living alone or to both) than to increase the already large number of apartment buildings in University City that are only accessible to staff and high-income graduates.

Finally, this building (dubbed a “luxury” apartment complex) is placed right on the border between Drexel’s campus and Powelton Village, a neighborhood predominantly filled with working-class families and students. At Vue32, prices start at $1,700 a month for the most basic one-bedroom apartment, and can be as much as $2,960 a month for the two-bedroom penthouse.

The disparity between this “luxury” and conditions in the nearby neighborhoods are overwhelming.

In Powelton Village, there are many rentals available for under $500 per person. In addition, Vue 32 has amenities such as a “genius bar,” fitness center and conference room, the type usually favored by business-people, while most apartments in Powelton Village are converted houses with small rooms and no extra features.

Bringing overpriced living and luxury amenities to this neighborhood will no doubt contribute to gentrification. The cost of living in the area overall will increase, making it even more difficult than it already is for students to find affordable accommodation and possibly leading to more people dropping out as they just can’t afford to live close to campus anymore. There’s no point having a special apartment complex for staff and faculty if there are no students for them to teach.

I just can’t agree with Drexel’s decision to lease land to the company that built Vue32. The goal of a university should be to cater to its students first and foremost — especially with all the tuition we pay — and this building doesn’t benefit students at all.

Even though it’s probably a lovely place to live, the benefit to its residents is not worth the indirect cost to Drexel students and to the surrounding community as a whole.

As technology has continued to develop, a lot of new forms of media have been created.

Television and radio are of course two of the major ones that have been around for years and have both continue to have an impact on the world. Another form of media is books, as well as their infamous counterpart: the e-book.

While the e-book has been gaining popularity, I personally believe that it is better to stick to traditional print books.

Printed books have existed for quite some time, whereas the e-book first came to exist in the 20th century and has continued to grow in popularity, as newer versions have been created and sold to the public. The Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire are two examples of newer e-book reading devices that have taken the general public by storm.

While lifelong preferences do play a major factor when it comes to people’s opinions on books and e-books, there are also some other things that play a role in what form of media people prefer.

One is the fact that we live in a technology-dominated age with many younger people who grew up with electronics, which made them naturally gravitate to the e-book.

This is especially the case for younger people who don’t enjoy reading because an e-reader, like the Kindle Fire or Nook Tablet, is closer to the electronic devices that they use on the regular.

Personally, I’ve always gravitated to traditional print books for a number of reasons.

When I was growing up, print books were what I was made accustomed to at a young age, so I naturally continued to read them more as I aged. Another reason for why I prefer print books is because I’ve always learned better when I have a physical book in my hand.

Some studies have also shown that retention may be increased if something is read on paper. In an article by Amy Kraft on CBS News, she wrote about how in an experiment from Norway, people were tasked with reading a short story on a Kindle or paperback book. They were then quizzed on what they had read, and people who had read the paperback version were more likely to recall the plot points from the stories in the correct order.

Paper is also easier on the eyes, which is another benefit to reading print books as opposed to e-books. As a college student, I already spend so much of my time staring at a screen, be it my laptop or phone, and there have been numerous times when my eyes have gotten tired from looking at a screen for extended periods of time.

However, despite some downsides of e-books, there are also some positives to reading them over print books.

Because e-books are electronic, they can be stored more efficiently and taken on-the-go with ease.

Having access to so many books at once is also a major plus side to e-books. There is also no need to worry about having a place to store the books, as they don’t take up physical space like print books.

E-books are also more accessible in that the font size and line spacing can be adjusted to meet the reader’s personal preferences. It’s was shown in a 2013 study in the journal PLoS One that this aspect can aid the reading-impaired.

In this study, the reading speed and comprehension of 103 high school students with dyslexia was observed, and it was found that people who have certain specific forms of dyslexia have a better experience with reading when using the e-reader compared to paper.

At the end of the day, whether you like print books or e-books comes down to personal preference. Some avid readers like myself will more than likely forever remain fond of having the feeling of a book in our hands and the pages turning between our fingers. For me, turning that last page in a book and then finding a nice snug spot for it in my library will always be one of the best feelings in the world.

As the investigation into Trump’s potential ties with Russia proceeds, many commentators are itching to know when the first signs of his downfall will appear.

Will it be from the testimony of Mike Flynn, the former National Security Advisor who left after failing to disclose his contact with Russian officials? Or will Robert Mueller eventually probe deeper to find the smoking gun?

Despite the scrutiny that Trump is undergoing, it is highly unlikely that direct evidence of collusion with Russian intelligence agencies will be uncovered. It would take a stunning amount of incompetence to leave behind tangible evidence of collusion with a hostile nation.

Any obviously incriminating communications that took place between his team and Russia is likely to have been conducted in a way that obfuscates the crime. Trump might be brash and inexperienced, but it unlikely that he is incompetent enough to not take obvious precautions when committing a crime as serious as this.

Any case brought up against Trump is going to require extensive investigation and will likely be extremely complex.

Multiple witnesses will have to step forward to construct a credible narrative that there was willing and deliberate attempt to obtain damaging information about Hillary Clinton. Some of these witnesses might only testify if they are granted immunity from prosecution, and this determines a careful deliberation of whether the information they are providing is valuable to a case or not.

The hard evidence that is left behind — phone calls, emails, and other forms of correspondence, are more likely to be snippets that can support a prosecution narrative rather than an incriminating document saying, “I did it.” Instead, it is likely that multiple layers of contacts were used, along with coded language to mask the real intent of the message.

It is very likely that there is enough evidence out there to press for charges against Trump, but the issue is that the amount of time to gather and analyze that evidence is going to be a lengthy process for the reasons above.

A proper case that is viable enough to recommend impeachment will take several more months, if not years to bring forward. For reference, the Watergate scandal took place in mid-1972, and Nixon formally resigned in 1974. Similarly, the Clinton impeachment process only began in late 1998, almost two years after his affair with Monica Lewinsky ended.

If the current scandal is anything like those of the past, a Trump impeachment is not anywhere near the horizon — there’s still a lot of work to be done on the case, and it could be another year and a half before the actual extent of his ties with Russia is fully exposed.

That doesn’t mean that Trump is safe from legal issues in the short term.

Evidence related to the current investigation could lead to additional charges that were not originally considered. A full investigation of these links to Russia requires a thorough look into his tax filings, business holdings, real estate and other assets, which could leave him vulnerable to a variety of legal threats unrelated to the election scandal.

It is well known that he has business ties with various foreign nations, some of which are unfriendly to American interests and allies. With his extensive international business holdings, it is highly likely that he has financial ties to Saudi, Chinese and Russian businessmen.

The conflict of interest around these ties is simply unresolvable, as there are far too many opportunities for his business interests to take precedent over his responsibilities as president.

In particular, the Emoluments Clause poses a question of whether it is legal for a president to accept payments from foreign powers, and the constant suspicion that his decisions have political motivations will serve as a roadblock for his agenda proposals in Congress.

Saxbys opened its second student-run cafe on Drexel University’s main campus in the Papadakis Integrated Sciences Building at 3245 Chestnut St. June 27. To commemorate the opening, customers could pay what they wanted for cafe items instead of paying normal prices.

The money raised from the “pay-what-you-wish” event went to the Workshop School, a public high school located in West Philadelphia, whose students designed and built the furniture used in the cafe. Saxbys also matched 100 percent of all money raised.

CEO Nick Bayer said the opening celebrated the 14 students who helped from the Workshop School, as well as the 30 undergraduate Drexel students who will run the cafe through the Saxbys’ Experiential Learning Program.

“The students have blown us away. I still pinch myself when I look at all the work they’ve done,” Bayer said.

The event attracted many Drexel students and other community members, who expressed excitement toward the grand opening.

“Today was awesome and all of the food and drinks were delicious,” McCarry Papula, a dance major who attended the opening, said.

Many students praised its new location, which Bayer described as “the front door of campus.” This location is closer to many academic buildings on campus, compared to the other location at 65 N 34th Street.

“Usually students don’t want to walk a lot, so it’s in a good position. The other location is pretty far,” Nomalia Manna, a student studying business administration, said.

“I’m really excited because I don’t like walking to the other one. I’m happy they’re utilizing this space,” finance student Aydan Malkoc said.

It replaced Seasons, a former dining option.

Kim Hess, an environmental engineering student, is disappointed in Drexel’s decision to add another Saxbys.

“I liked Seasons more,” she said. “We already have a Saxbys on campus.”

Victoria Smith, a mechanical engineering student, agreed.

“They could have done something else with the space,” she said.

Casey Tene said she was surprised when she found out that Saxbys would be taking over the space because it is so close to the other location.

“I don’t know why we need two. We need another cheaper food place,” Tene said, suggesting an alternative like Wawa.

Other students, like teaching education major Hayden O’Rourke, wished that Saxbys would work with Drexel to eventually accept dining dollars.

Overall, Saxbys management foresees a hopeful future for the new cafe.

“It’s just incredible. We’ve had an amazing response. … We’re really proud of what we’ve done,” Greg Galiffa, the content manager of Saxbys, said.

Bayer said he will continuously support the dreams and visions of all the students involved.

He said, “I’m excited to see what future they build here.”

Eyes burning with exhaustion, body aching with fatigue, you tirelessly produce essay after essay, all while in the midst of cramming for finals. Energy as dwindling as your social life and sanity as on the brink as your GPA, you think to yourself, “How could it get any worse?” You couldn’t possibly balance anything else on top of a notoriously hellish finals week at Drexel … except, if you’re a student in search of a co-op, you have to.

Students preparing to find a co-op must hammer out perfected resumes, frantically schedule interviews and then actually show up to as many as 25 interviews ­all while hopelessly balancing the other responsibilities of a student — and all during a specified time period that is far too short.

It’s too much to handle all of these duties during finals week and Drexel should consider revising the timeline of the co-op search so that it doesn’t directly interfere with finals.

Rather than feverishly fitting interviews into already overloaded finals weeks, the initial phase of the co-op process should either be pushed back earlier in the quarter or conversely, carry over into the next quarter.

Instead of waiting until the very last weeks of the term to schedule and attend interviews with potential employers, the process could begin several weeks earlier before finals are looming over stressed minds.

Alternatively, this process could wait until the beginning of the next quarter. The beginning of a quarter tends to be the least busiest time, so it would make sense to allot time for interviews then.

Students past their freshman year only get a little over a week off for summer and they shouldn’t have to spend it worrying about interviews. With an already limited break, we should be able to focus on non-Drexel things for once and not be rushing between home and campus like a maniac.

If the co-op process was adjusted, students could focus on their academics at the necessary time and simultaneously, do better at interviews. By cramming everything into the same few weeks, students can’t focus on their schoolwork or be the best versions of themselves during interviews. It’s a lose-lose situation.

I know personally, I have so much on my plate during that time that I must pull constant all-nighters to study and can barely function during interviews. I monotonously rattle off the same old elevator pitches, but can never really get into an interview because I’m busy thinking about papers I have to write and tests I think I’m going to fail.

It may appear that laziness is behind my desire for an amended process, but it’s quite the opposite of that. I want to do my very best and I want a system that supports that. Precise logistics would have to be meticulously determined, but for now, I think it’s clear to say that the procedures need to be reconsidered.

We’re all here because of co-op, so let’s perfect this system by allotting more time for already drained students so that they can truly focus on their academics as well as their co-op search.

For as big as a deal as co-op is, the entire system seems to be inadvertently thrown into our schedules.

The Drexel environment pushes Drexel students to become master multi-taskers who can accomplish the seemingly impossible; however, the system pushes us enough already and if any extra stress can be avoided, Drexel should make an effort to do so. Just because we are used to stress, it doesn’t mean we need to be over-stressed.

I am very grateful for my education at Drexel and for the opportunity to have a co-op in general. I merely think the system could be designed to better suit the students.

We all dream of finding a perfect co-op, but we can’t do that until the system itself is perfected.

The summer quarter has officially started for students as has summer break for freshmen .

There’s no doubt that mostly everyone is miserable about being in school for the summer, especially since lots of other students are on summer break right now, including me.

While it is nice to have a break, I can’t help but feel upset that I am not in Philadelphia for the summer. Although students on campus right now have to be focused on work instead of fun, they are lucky to be in the city during the most active season.

Philadelphia is a lively city year round, especially in the summer. I got to experience some of the most beautiful places in the city during my freshman year, and it would be even better to visit all of my favorite spots in the summer weather.

Although students might have tons of work to do throughout the quarter, they still have access to the best places all over the city.

The Delaware River Waterfront is a great place to go in the summer. I wish I could be in the city to see the sun glisten over the river and eat some ice cream from Franklin Fountain while walking up the trail along the water.

Students still in the city can also take advantage of the festivals and celebrations held throughout the season. Philadelphia’s LGBTQ Pride Parade happened just a day after the end of the spring quarter, and there are also several music festivals happening in the city over the summer, like Made in America, which features several popular artists.

In my suburban hometown, there is not as much to do in the summer as there is in Philadelphia, but it is right near the beach, which is the biggest advantage of being home for the break. It is only a 10-minute drive from my house, but I would rather be in the city where many of my favorite destinations are within walking distance.

I don’t miss drowning in homework or having to walk miles in the worst weather, but I sure miss all the excitement of being in Philadelphia.

Although I’ll be starting my sophomore year in less than three months, it seems like I will have to wait forever to be back.

Every student that is currently on campus should take advantage of the city as much as possible. I know that it is difficult to find time while being in challenging classes or spending all day at co-op, but wasting an entire summer would be a terrible thing to do.

Philadelphia is a world of its own with several summer spots waiting to be explored. Don’t take any of it for granted, because once out of the city, it will be clear how much you’re missing out on some of the best summer activities.

Step outside of the Drexel bubble for just a second and explore all that can be done in Philadelphia for the summer. Study lots, but live more.

After having spent my freshman year living in the well-known Kelly Hall, I’ve had both good and bad experiences with Drexel University’s housing system.

Things started off rough for me because dorm life was something I was unaccustomed to, and quite frankly not excited about. Even before I arrived at the school I’d heard quite a lot about Kelly Hall’s reputation from some of its past residents, and the comments were not always flattering. However, I wasn’t expecting anything amazing since I was a freshman, and freshman dorms are generally the worst ones by default.

Kelly Hall wasn’t as terrible as people had led me to believe though. I’ll admit that the first few weeks were pretty rough in terms of cleanliness. There were a few times where housekeeping would take forever to get around to cleaning the bathroom. It was a brutal first couple of weeks because of this.

Things got better as time went on, and I feel as though this was partly due to myself and a number of the other freshmen settling in and figuring out what was expected from us as residents.

Quite a few fire alarm incidents happened during the first couple of weeks, some toilets flooded and there was an issue in the basement with the laundry room.

Yet, complaints aside, there are a number of great aspects to living in one of Drexel’s dorms, most notably, the residential staff members. The residential advisors in particular are people that I have heard nothing but good things about. To me, these people are invaluable because of what they do for the dorms.

I personally found both of the RAs I had during my time in Kelly Hall to be incredibly helpful. Without them, I undoubtedly would have had a much tougher time during fall quarter. Not only were they helpful within the dorm itself, but they were also walking encyclopedias when it came to campus and its many attractions.

The RAs were also the creators of a number of different activities and events that took place in Kelly Hall throughout all of fall quarter. These events were almost always interesting as their themes were generally based on things that were relevant to college life, such as drug and alcohol awareness. They were a nice distraction that the other residents and I could go to when we needed to take some time away from our studies and they also served as a good way to become familiar with other people that lived in the hall.

The various dorms that Drexel offers to its students all have their own ups and downs, but from an overall standpoint, I’ve heard mostly positive reviews from my fellow freshmen. Plenty of them have of course talked extremely negatively about the dorms, which is fine as everyone is entitled to their own opinion. For me personally, I think that the dorms are far better than a number of other college dorms that I have seen that have been far worse. I also wouldn’t expect a dorm like Kelly Hall to be absolutely perfect, because it’s hard to maintain a dorm when there are so many people living in it at a given time.

Drexel does a good job with its housing system, and what it offers to its students is definitely above average. It may be a little rough around the edges, but a bit of polishing is all it really needs.

Entering college life, I was rather pessimistic about the whole idea because of the fact that I’d been homeschooled for all of my educational life. I had never been to any kind of public, private or any other type of school, but I did start going to community college at fifteen years old as an early college start student. As an early college start student, I was only allowed to take two classes per term, which wasn’t too difficult, but I was heavily occupied with studying for the PSAT and SAT, as well as other subjects that I was studying at home.

Upon deciding to go to Drexel, I knew that I’d be in for a very long and potentially stressful transition. I’d heard some people’s personal stories about their first year of college, and most of them consisted of three main things: drugs, alcohol, and partying. However, I was more concerned about having to take five classes each term, as well as living in a dorm and having a roommate. I was also worried about having to be for the most part self-dependent. The fact that my brother was also going to the school did ease my worries a little, but I was so used to being around my parents all the time that not having them around was immediately strange to me.

I was also dreading the idea of having to make new friends. I wouldn’t consider myself to be antisocial, but making friends is something that has always been a hassle for me. While growing up, I never really bothered with trying to make too many friends in the neighborhoods that I lived in. The vast majority of my peers were fellow homeschoolers who I met at clubs that were specific to homeschoolers, although I did have a few friends who were in public school.

Some of these perceptions that I had were quite accurate, others not so much. My academic concerns were pretty much spot on. Not all of the classes were necessarily harder than the ones that I took in community college, but the workload of five classes was overwhelming during the fall quarter. Having to develop good study habits and learning how to manage my time were things that took me weeks to figure out and on multiple occasions I wanted to call it quits because it was just too much.

Socially, it wasn’t as bad as I had been expecting it to be. I was of course skeptical about interacting with people who were coming out of high school since I had heard so much about how intense life in high school can sometimes be. However, to my surprise, I ended up forming friendships rather quickly without really meaning to and having a social life certainly helped take my mind away from my classes when I was in need of a break. People definitely hadn’t been lying about the drugs, alcohol and partying that come with college life, but it isn’t that difficult to avoid those things.

As if academic and social related things were not trouble enough during the first couple of weeks, I also had to deal with a major culture shock since I had never lived in a city before. This was something that I had honestly not even taken into consideration when I chose to go to school at Drexel. It was a pretty big change at first, but I grew to like it a lot as time went on and I adjusted to the lifestyle. Although having to go out in search of food on a daily basis was admittedly a little frustrating at first, especially since I preferred to cook my own meals.

At the end of the day, I cannot deny that college isn’t as bad as I was led to believe. It is certainly chaotic from time to time and plenty stressful, but those are things that I’ve been able to handle fairly well so far.

I must say that my freshman experience had its fair share of ups and downs throughout the three quarters, but the good outweighed the bad in the end. From staying up at night studying, to being out at in the city later than I had any right to be, there are definitely a lot of things that I would have done differently if I were given the chance to relive my freshman year of college.

At the same time though, I think that the point of freshman year is to experiment and make at least some mistakes so that you can figure out what works and what doesn’t work.

I certainly learned a lot about myself and about life in general, not to mention that my opinion of college has gone from one of pessimism to optimism.

If there’s one thing that Drexel University did right for me, it’s that it helped me decide on my future.

It was difficult planning out my education, my life and my career, but having to declare my major before I even stepped into the door put some things into perspective.

I had to understand that what I chose would be a big decision, so I knew it had to do something I loved. I had no idea that choosing to study Film & Video at Drexel would be one of the best decisions I ever made.

Freshman year has certainly been an interesting year. We’ve all done many things, met many people, had new experiences, tried something entirely new at least once.

The finish line is almost upon us, and as I look back at this year behind me, I can see things more clearly. I can understand now what things are important to me. I know how to make better decisions that have a positive impact on myself and my future. I know how to plan things better.

Something that I realized is that we students don’t understand the power that we possess. We have the future in the palm of our hands. We have the ability to craft, to morph, to create a whole new world on top of the one we stand on.

It means something different for everyone. We all have different visions for how we want to change things.

Change is an interesting idea. I feel like change can only come out of an individual who is broad-minded, creative and free-thinking. It takes new ideas, seeing things from a different perspective and observing what’s already around you to change things.

Everyone has a dream. Dreams come in all different shapes and sizes. Some are grand, some are miniature, but all have some sort of effect on the world. The funniest thing about dreams is that they materialize from nothing.

Some people can say ideas that are planned and thought-out with some type of tangibility, but an idea is essentially nothing. It doesn’t exist, it doesn’t have matter. All dreams start out from a simple idea to do or to be something more.

Many people may not know what happens within the curriculum of within the majors in the Westphal College of Media Arts & Design, but it’s truly something special. It’s different, but it’s so valuable once you know how to use what you’ve learned.

It’s different for many majors. There are people who learn about cells and DNA. They learn about the genetic information that is the coding for all life. There are people who learn about financing, portfolio building and stratagem. There are people that understand advanced mathematics and plan schematics for all sorts of structures.

Then, there are people like us whose sole responsibility is to gear their mind for content creation, content of any facet. There’s an onslaught of skills we have to learn to do what we do best.

We take art classes that are rigorous and most of us can’t draw. We take design classes and most of us couldn’t visualize a cube if it hit us across the forehead. We take computer classes with editing, coding and formulas and it’s almost impossible to learn all keystrokes.

If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what in the world was I doing on a project I’d probably have about $200. Even I didn’t truly understand what I was doing, but little did I know I was learning the skills for the future.

The classes we take are difficult. They involve a certain expertise that has to be mastered. It involves studying of the basics to know what you’re doing. There is a foundation laid down that we have to overcome in order to be just good enough.

Many people can get by being good enough and people will appreciate that effort alone. For some of us however, we will never settle for just being good enough, we have to be better than the best just to be recognized.

The fact of the matter is that we are striving to be more.

Yes, people learn to be successful doctors, successful business women and men and successful engineers, but we are given a task for a future that isn’t laid out for us.

We are the creators of tomorrow. With all the skills we learn throughout our undergraduate years it prepares us to produce ideas that are truly worthwhile.

We are the people that will make tomorrow’s latest fashion trend. We are the people that will design the advertisement for your business. We are the people who will create the next one hit wonder song. We are the people who will make tomorrow’s biggest blockbuster, tomorrow’s big video game and the new dance craze. We are the people responsible for the new development around 30th Street Station, creating an entirely new urban innovation.

With just the simple ideas of today. We can create something beautiful for tomorrow.

It’s time for all of us to claim our future. We are going to create something great on top of the rubble.

When I was younger I had a dream that I would create movies one day, and show the world the powerful use of storytelling. That day becomes closer and closer with every passing year.

Everyone has a dream to create these big things. These ideas that we have are going to be built from the ground up, here, with the tools that we are given.

Drexel University is helping us pave the way to make our ideas a reality, something tangible that everyone can witness.

We are all in the right place to do what we love.

Photograph courtesy of Jonathan Nicholson at NurPhoto/Sipa USA/TNS

We teach younger children the same thing we have been taught by our parents and elders: be fearless and brave when faced with injustice and cruelty because courage and kindness conquer all.

Even if it wasn’t exactly that but something along those lines, we grew up with the notion that we cannot succumb to fear and be consumed by hatred. We must put our most valiant selves forward. This is the same mindset we pass on from generation to generation as the amount of hatred and malice continues to breed within the world.

But for some children raised in Europe, the years of their naive lives have been defined by terror attacks — the Paris shooting in April 2017, the Brussels bombing of March 2017, the Westminster attack of March 2017, the Bastille Day massacre July of 2016, the shooting at Charlie Hebdo January 2015 and many more.

All these mass attacks occurred in only a span of two to three years and this isn’t even the full list. Some kids have grown up alongside the increasing growth of attacks — shooting after shooting, bombing after bombing. The attacks on the innocent never cease.

Recently another disgusting act of terror occurred: the Manchester bombing at an Ariana Grande concert that left around 22 dead and more than 50 injured, most of whom were young, pre-teen girls. This was the act of a suicide bomber that detonated a shrapnel filled bomb and in one explosion destroyed any last sense of safety these young children will have for the remainder of their lives.

For as youthful and innocent as they are, they’ve lived through more than enough catastrophes to diminish their hope in society. Yet, in fact, it didn’t change their outlook on the world because they were taught to be their bravest selves and prove that fear won’t shake them, and they did just that. Their innocence and hope remained through it all.

This decision to make pre-adolescent children victims of such a horrific attack was disgustingly strategic and the possible reason for doing so is chilling. These children are the most pure of heart and naive, unaware of the terrors of the years before them. They are a force too focused on the goodness in the world to even notice the bad.

Terrorism may even be a foreign term to many depending on just how young they are. Most importantly, they are the future. This one act of terror has snatched away their innocence and bravery. It has diminished everything they were taught about courage and has replaced it with nightmares. It opened them up to the world of bombs and guns, mass deaths and terrorism, before they even reached adolescence. Their hope and positive outlook on humanity has disappeared and left them with a constant fear of all humans. They will not grow up overcoming the fear terrorism oppresses over them but rather they will grow up in the shadow of an attack that shaped their lives and their perspective of the world. They have been changed before they even reached major milestones and now they cannot go back. This suicide bomber has changed the future.

For many, this was the first concert their parents agreed to let them attend. Finally after all the pleading, their parents agreed to let them go see Ariana Grande perform, with them accompanying or not. It was a milestone to cherish forever, a coming of age, a memory to tell their children years later.

Ariana Grande is an unapologetically daring and confident pop singer who appeals to these girls through her music and style. They all gathered at this concert after anticipating it for months to finally see someone they idolize perform live. It was a feeling unlike any other for many of them. The concert drew to a close and the adrenaline was still rushing while the sadness of it being over combined with the feeling of awe of the show. Then a blast.

Parents and teenage girls and boys running, screaming. Parents yelling the names of their children as they frantically run amongst the stampede trying to escape. Children sobbing as they lost their parent and are alone amongst a crowd running away from those injured and killed. What was supposed to be a surreal night ended in what can only be described as worse than any nightmare. An 8-year-old girl’s life was taken that night when instead, she should have been giddy with the experience she just had while smiling ear-to-ear.

Music is meant to make people feel safe and comfortable. It gives them a chance to express who they are without any hatred and not be sorry for being themselves. Now, even music and concerts have been tainted by the fear of terrorism. No matter how often we were told not to succumb to fear and to be brave, one can only take so much terror. Fear has taken over us all. It has left individuals afraid to go to malls, on planes, to major holiday celebrations, to museums, to clubs and now to concerts. Terrorism has destroyed our sense of safety and now pre-teen girls will carry that burden for the rest of their lives.

During a night that should have ended at the merchandise booth with girls taking away t-shirts, it ended with an explosion and adolescents leaving with new fear, new nightmares and a constant sense of terror.