At 11:00 a.m. today I stood silent for a quiet moment in the Commonsblock.
It is Remembrance Day. Although I did not attend the ceremony held on campus, I still took time out of my day to think of those brave soldiers who fought for our country.
Sure I have tons of things to do, thousands of thoughts racing through my head. But that doesn’t stop me from stopping. From pausing. Because everything that is going on right now is so insignificant to what was going on 92 years ago.
Is it concerning that yesterday somebody casually told me they couldn’t wait for class to be over so they could get wasted that night? Yes.
Students are now taking advantage, for whatever the reason, that there is a day off school. Getting so wasted they don’t even remember what happened the night before, or so crunk they don’t remember why the heck we call it Remembrance Day in the first place.
In elementary school, I wore my Girl Guide uniform to school for the special assembly in the gym. In middle school, I lead the entire assembly on stage reading out speeches of why we had gathered. In high school, we had guest speakers and veteran soldiers come in and share their stories.
And yet here I am at university and I stand alone.
Lest we forget.
We say this phrase, but I hope we have not already forgotten.
In other news, November 19th is the 21st anniversary for the Convention on the Rights of the Child and I will be silent for 24 hours. This means no Facebook, no cell phone, no talking, no hand gestures, no writing. Today, over one billion children live in poverty; many of whom struggle to overcome hunger, child labour, discrimination and lack of education. Their rights are not being upheld. Their voices are not being heard. For them, I will be silent.
