By Dave Collins
Associated Press
NEWTOWN, Conn. 鈥� Like graduating seniors everywhere, members of Newtown High School鈥檚 class of 2024 expect bittersweet feelings at their commencement ceremony 鈥� excitement about heading off to college or careers and sadness about leaving their friends and community.
But about 60 of the 330 kids graduating Wednesday will also be carrying the emotional burden that comes from having survived one of the in U.S. history and knowing many former classmates won鈥檛 get to walk across the stage with them. at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 14, 2012.
The victims will be honored during the ceremony, but details have been kept under wraps.
Soon, these Sandy Hook survivors will be leaving the community that many call a 鈥渂ubble鈥� because of the comfort and protection it鈥檚 provided from the outside world. Five of them sat down with The Associated Press to discuss their graduation, future plans and how the tragedy continues to shape their lives.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l be there with us鈥�
鈥淚 think we鈥檙e all super excited for the day,鈥� said Lilly Wasilnak, 17, who was in a classroom down the hall from where her peers were killed. 鈥淏ut I think we can鈥檛 forget ... that there is a whole chunk of our class missing. And so going into graduation, we all have very mixed emotions 鈥� trying to be excited for ourselves and this accomplishment that we鈥檝e worked so hard for, but also those who aren鈥檛 able to share it with us, who should have been able to.鈥�
Emma Ehrens was one of 11 children from Classroom 10 to survive the attack. She and other students managed to flee when the gunman paused to reload and another student, Jesse Lewis, yelled for everyone to run. Jesse didn鈥檛 make it. Five kids and both teachers in the room were killed.
鈥淚 am definitely going be feeling a lot of mixed emotions,鈥� said Ehrens, 17. 鈥淚鈥檓 super excited to be, like, done with high school and moving on to the next chapter of my life. But I鈥檓 also so ... mournful, I guess, to have to be walking across that stage alone. 鈥� I like to think that they鈥檒l be there with us and walking across that stage with us.鈥�
Grace Fischer, 18, was in a classroom down the hall from the killings with Ella Seaver and Wasilnak. With only 11 days to go before Christmas, the school was in the holiday spirit and the children were looking forward to making gingerbread houses that day.
鈥淎s much as we鈥檝e tried to have that normal, like, childhood and normal high school experience, it wasn鈥檛 totally normal,鈥� Fischer said. 鈥淏ut even though we are missing ... such a big chunk of our class, like Lilly said, we are still graduating. ... We want to be those regular teenagers who walk across the stage that day and feel that, like, celebratory feeling in ourselves, knowing that we鈥檝e come this far.鈥�
Leaving home and the 鈥榖ubble鈥�
Many of the survivors said they continue to live with the trauma of that day: Loud noises still cause them to jump out of their seats, and some always keep an eye on a room鈥檚 exits. Many have spent years in therapy for post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety.
The town provided an array of services to the families. Officials shielded them as much as they could from the media and outsiders, and the students said leaving such a protective community will be both difficult and somewhat freeing.
鈥淚n Sandy Hook, what happened is always kind of looming over us,鈥� said Matt Holden, 17, who was in a classroom down the hall from the shooting. 鈥淚 think leaving and being able to make new memories and meet new people, even if we鈥檒l be more isolated away from people who have stories like us, we鈥檒l be more free to kind of write our own story. ... And kind of, you know, not let this one event that happened because we were very young define our lifetimes.鈥�
Ehrens said she feels some anxiety over leaving Newtown, but that it鈥檚 a necessary step to begin the next chapter of her life.
鈥淚t definitely feels for me that we鈥檙e kind of stuck in the same system that we鈥檝e been stuck in for past 12 years,鈥� she said.
鈥淔or me, I feel like it鈥檚 definitely going to get better and be able to break free of that system and just be able to become my own person rather than, again, the Sandy Hook kid,鈥� Ehrens said.
Fischer echoed that sentiment, saying that although it will be hard leaving the town and friends she鈥檚 grown up with, she鈥檒l make new friends and build a new community as she explores new challenges at college.
鈥淪andy Hook will always be with me,鈥� she said.
Tragedy spurs activism, shapes their futures
All five seniors have been active in the Junior Newtown Action Alliance and its anti-gun violence efforts, saying they want to prevent shootings from happening through gun control and other measures. Last week, several of them met with Vice President Kamala Harris at the White House to discuss their experiences and call for change.
They say their fallen classmates have motivated their advocacy, which they all plan to continue after high school.
Seaver, 18, said working with the alliance makes her feel less helpless. She plans to study psychology in college and to become a therapist, wanting to give back in a way that helped her.
鈥淧utting my voice out there and working with all of these amazing people to try and create change really puts a meaning to the trauma that we all were forced to experience,鈥� Seaver said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a way to feel like you鈥檙e doing something. Because we are. We鈥檙e fighting for change and we鈥檙e really not going to stop until we get it.鈥�
Ehrens said she plans to study political science and the law, with the aim of becoming a politician or civil rights lawyer.
Fischer said she, too, hopes to become a civil rights lawyer.
Holden plans to major in political science and wants to push for gun policy changes.
Wasilnak, meanwhile, said she hasn鈥檛 settled on a major, but that she intends to continue to speak out against gun violence.
鈥淔or me, I knew I wanted to do something more since I was younger when the tragedy first happened,鈥� Wasilnak said. 鈥淚 wanted to turn such a terrible thing into something more, and that these children and educators didn鈥檛 die for nothing. Of course it was awful what happened to them, and it should have never happened. But I think that for me, something bigger needed to come out of it, or else it would have been all for nothing.鈥�
