On Sunday Nov. 8th, I saw a story on the news about University of Missouri football players that were on strike. Surprised, I proceeded to look more into the story, and found a slew of events that had occurred.

On Nov. 2nd Jonathan Butler, a civil rights activist and member of the student organization Concerned Student 1950, announced he would not eat until the system president, Tim Wolfe, resigned. This was in protest of a series of racist incidents that had been mishandled by the administration. A week later, the football team went on strike, and the news story went national.

I went into a mild panic that week, it seemed as if everything I had planned was crumbling before me. I frantically googled other schools that were known for journalism, but none of them struck my interest like Mizzou did. On Tuesday, there were online threats coming from the social media app Yik Yak, that raised concern. The messages said, “Some of you are alright. Don’t go to campus tomorrow” and “I’m going to stand my ground and shoot every black person I see.” I was genuinely terrified for the students at Mizzou and proceeded to cancel my trip to visit the school the following Friday.

For a week, I was in disarray. The school I was looking forward to attending was in a crisis and I didn’t know what to do. As the week progressed, however, more schools joined in the protests. I watched as students of color at various schools stood up to their administration, inspired by Mizzou. That’s when I decided that the problem isn’t only at Mizzou, it is national.

Some would say that the United States is approaching another civil rights movement, if we are not already in one. With recent police brutality cases coming to light, and college students protesting, it is clear that the world we are in is changing. Mizzou is at the forefront of this change. Jonathan Butler and Concerned Student 1950 saw the injustice at their school and did something about it, I don’t see anything other than pride in that.

As a person who wants to go into journalism for my future career, a school where students are active in their community is a wonderful thing. If anything, my experience at Mizzou will give me the experience I want for the field I want to go into.

Yes, people will deem the University of Missouri racist because it’s easy. After really examining the situation, however, it is clear that Mizzou is ahead of the curve. When I think about the university I want to attend, the last thing I want is for students to be silenced by their leaders. I want to attend a school where the students have a say in the administration and can change what is clearly wrong with the community. I want to attend a school where change is happening and I can be active in that change.