As everyone knows, on Friday November 13th, Paris suffered a terrorist attack. The news had nonstop coverage of the attack for the rest of the weekend. It was as if nothing else was happening in the world beyond that. It was also the number one topic on social media; people from all over the world placed the French flag over their profile picture on Facebook. The whole world was supporting France. But on Monday, of course, people had to move on. After all, it was not their country.

Except for me. Being the only native French person in school, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. While standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, I could not feel more French. Far from my country, and from my peers, I desperately needed to be with them, in one way or another. Not being aware of what was happening was the worst, and every time I could, I checked the news on my computer. All the day people asked me if I knew anyone in Paris who was near the attack. Luckily, I was able to say no. But, I was afraid of was what was going to happen next. I watched my President’s speeches. He was talking about war. I didn’t even know what that meant. My friends told me that everything had changed back home, especially my high school. They had much less freedom, they couldn’t go out whenever they wanted as they used to do.

The main reason I was so shocked was because France is not used to these types of attacks. And I hope more than anything that we are not going to be. But, we mustn’t forget that these attacks are all over the world, and it is not new. We are far from the peaceful world that we would like to be. Now that France has been attacked, we move, and do something to prevent future attacks. Meanwhile, people in Syria die everyday because of the war, yet until now it has not been personal. Or these people in Mali who suffered a terrorist attack, do we help them?

I am very concerned about what happened in my country, but I don’t think we deserve more attention than the others. If we have to fight for peace, I think we have to fight for peace all over the world.