Why I walked out today: Because in every classroom I've ever sat, I've had a plan to flee a gunman

Lara Graney | Special for USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Students across country walk out to demand change This is what a nationwide walkout looks like.

Lara Graney is a senior at Communications High School in Wall Township, N.J. She participated in Wednesday's National School Walkout to demand an end to gun violence and to honor the 17 slain on Feb. 14 in Parkland, Fla. Graney is an intern for Asbury Park (N.J.) Press, part of the USA TODAY Network. These are her words:

I go to school in a generally safe area. The only guns I’ve seen are on the hips of police officers. And I am not an alarmist.

Yet, in every classroom I’ve ever sat in at Communications High School, I’ve had a plan.

I know that in one classroom there’s a back entrance that leads right outside. I know that in another there is no good hiding space, and it's best just to make a run for it. I know that in another there is a brick in a cabinet that could break a window.

And I’m not the only one. What to do if a shooter attacked the school is a common topic in my classes.

Today, my classmates and I stood in solidarity with the Parkland victims and their families and made 17 promises to make our school safer. Many of us also walked out to formally oppose the state of gun legislation in this country.

I love my school and am proud to be a student there. We have good grades, greater talents and little disciplinary issues. But I’ve never been prouder than I am today to be a student at Communications High School.

Walking out the front door to the side lawn, the students looked excited and purposeful. While my classmates read aloud names of victims and asked for moments of silence, the group did not behave as if it was any other assembly. They really paid attention, some of them with tears in their eyes. We were thinking about what it meant to be out there, to support this cause.

I feel so lucky to have been a part of it.

Communications High School did a wonderful job of accommodating all views: people who want more gun control, people who don’t, people who just want to honor the victims. No one I spoke with felt uncomfortable, or unrecognized. This was not a polarizing event. Communications High School was united, despite varying political views.

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In the weeks leading up to the walkout, there was a lot of conversation about logistics and purpose. Why are we doing this? What are we saying? Is it really worth the risk to stand outside in the freezing cold when we could attract no attention from passersby?

Yes. It was. My classmate Samantha LaRochelle, who helped organize the event, explained it best.

“It’s important to show people that we are unified and we are not going away,” she said. "We have a voice even if we are small.”

Today, the students of Communications High School joined thousands of others across the country. Together, we caught the attention of the media, the government and the general public. Today, we had the privilege of being a part of history.

I believe this walkout will add to the national conversation and force the country to look into the faces of the future. And I believe they saw that we are sick and tired of hearing about these tragedies on the news.

We are sick and tired of wondering when it is going to happen to us.