Open your eyes by Kamrie-lyn

Open your eyes by Kamrie-lyn - April 2024 Scholarship Essay

How does something as thick as smoke conceal your vision, but open your eyes?

For many people, motivation is something that fires from within. Perhaps a childhood dream, or an internal yearning, however, my motivation is inspired by an event.

With a grin stretched from ear-to-ear, Trooper Kelly Smith walked with poise, leading us through The Pennsylvania State Police Academy, an experience presented to select participants as a part of The Camp Cadet program. The smell of sweat penetrated my nose, leaving nothing but a desire to escape. I took a large heap of air in, then held it, almost as if to filter it, until my body yearned for more of the humid fuel.

I followed in a - what used to be line - behind her; as she pushed to the outside door, my serotonin arose, the excitement of reaching a fresh environment; I lengthened my steps and pushed my heels to further accelerate me past both the stench and the unbearable thuds.

We were met with a fog, differing from the blinding sunny weather occurring an hour prior. Though there was a nice breeze, fog seemed unlikely. Trooper Smith turned to us and showcased her extended grin, “Y’all I am sorry but it seems like today is the tear gas training down there, just be sure to wash your clothes upon returning home.” Her normalcy pushed my initial fear down as she started leading us towards more sights to uncover.

Though the gas had been at a distance of at least three-hundred meters away, the aroma created a spicy layer on my eyes, initiating a slightly blurry vision, the scent of pepper replaced the sweat-stenched noses of me and my peers. The gas was far enough to cause a slight burn, but not feel painful. Though the slight sting bothered our focus, we created humorous situations, pretending to take the form of soldiers rushing through a battle. Whilst, admit-fully, the situation became a game to us, it triggered irreplaceable questions to fall into my mind, the prevailing one asking, “If this is what it feels like more than hundreds of meters away, what are the feelings of the various victims of such torture?”

Such a question prompted me to attempt to push the pieces together within the frame of my mind. Through previous research and work through Amnesty International, I was aware of situations involving people being subjected to numerous amounts of torture, however, the feeling was dehumanized, walking merely through the light fog pushed me into an area of both realization and rage.

That rage fueled my personal mission to re-humanize those individuals, both in foreign countries and our country. I spent my last two years of high school enrolled half-day in a vigorous technical college that offered a Law and Public Safety program, knowing that the way to initiate change was to work from the inside out. I became captain of the class, alongside the safety manager. With these roles, I educated the class, and school, on excessive uses of force and torture, all whilst driving myself further by gaining certificates on the knowledge of prevention. I set indivisible passions off within each student: encouraging them to write letters to leaders accused of unjust captivity and to further raise awareness, inside and outside our school.

My journey does not stop now; I will continue my plan of action to engage as many as I can in creating a shift. I am continuing my education, and aspire to one day, step on the global scale as an international humanitarian lawyer!

That event is my driving motivating factor, for the advancements will never simply just occur without effort. The awareness of the advances that still need to be made push me further into doing whatever is possible to shift that norm and stand for those wrongfully convicted and subjected.
For those who feel as if they lack motivation - whether it be in school - or just to get through the day; allow me to give you some advice. Find a goal, take miniature steps, and utilize it to get from day to day. Minor steps can cause massive change, it is something I wish to prove with my own progress someday. My next step… undergraduate school this year!

I will not stop my journey to communicate regarding those wrongfully subjected to both torture and unjust force, for the sting may have blurred my vision, but it will not blind my sight.