Name: Sasha Mari Santiago
From: Orlando, Florida
Votes: 0
The
most vivid memory I have is the moment I found out Alec Gomez died. I
was in a biology classroom during a Biology Bootcamp in my freshman
year at my high school. The class was silently interrupted by the
whispers of the students in the class asking questions and one of
them asked me, “Do you know Alec Gomez? He died last night. He was
in a car accident.” I felt like the world stopped moving. I felt
like everything just stopped: the class, the whispers, my heartbeat.
Everyone was devastated. We had lost a member of our school. One of
the worst parts about the entire experience was the fact that I had
to perform in our school’s musical, “Once on This Island” twice
that day, a matinee. The overall feeling of the cast coming together
and supporting each other through this tough time was the most
immense feeling of family I have ever felt. We decided to put on the
best performance in his honor, “For Alec.”
As
more details of his death emerged, I found out that an impaired
motorcyclist hit Alec when he was walking with his friends on the
sidewalk. There are so many people die in accidents because of drunk
or impaired drivers, over fifty percent. It feels like nothing is
being done to reduce this percentage. I often felt nobody was taking
a stand or advocating for those families who lost a loved one. That
was until I came across the Keri Anne Demott Foundation.
About
a year after Alec’s passing, I volunteered at an event called the
Keri Anne Demott Foundation. The Demott family lost their daughter
because of a drunk driver. They started a foundation in her memory.
Now they go around to different high schools and middle schools
advocating and spreading awareness about safe driving. This was the
turning point for me. I learned so much during one night of community
service from statistics of drunk driving accidents to how many people
were affected because of one person’s bad decision to drink and
drive. But the most important thing I learned that night was the
importance of safe driving and spreading awareness. I always remind
my friends about safe driving: I remind them to put their seatbelts
on, be aware of other cars, not to speed, and, most importantly not
to drink and drive.
Not
a lot of people understand the importance of driving education,
especially about drinking. I feel like drivers edal courses do
a lot to inform students of the rules, but not necessarily about the
consequences of their actions. When I took drivers ed, I
remember a lot of statistics about blood alcohol percentages and less
about the personal experiences of others. I think more clubs at
schools can start committees or projects taking to middle school or
even elementary students about the importance of safe driving. These
committees could even inform high school students about the dangers
of drinking and driving through events or rallies at their school.
By
educating the youth on the dangers of drunk or impaired driving and
the importance of safe driving, the number of deaths related to drunk
driving will be reduced. Also, more laws need to be enforced to
punish those who do drink and drive but also to prevent them from
making the same mistake again. I will begin to spread awareness even
more in my school through clubs like Key Club where I am an officer
and can inform many members through different social media platforms
and at our meetings.
