There is something strange about trying to explain the impact of someone you’ve never met.
Charlie Kirk never knew my name. I never sat across from him or had a conversation with him. I knew him the way millions of young people did: through a screen and through his speeches. But what I remember most is not one particular argument he made or one particular thing he said, rather it was the way he treated young people. He believed we were capable of more than we often gave ourselves credit for.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t until the tragedy on September 10th that I seriously considered acting on my own beliefs. That was when I joined Helena in her mission to create a Club America chapter at our school.
Many doubts circulated after that. Could we actually make a difference? Would anyone listen? Was there really a place for young people like us to stand publicly for what we believed? Charlie’s example was what made me question whether I had to accept those doubts.
Charlie started his journey like the thousands of teens across America have now started theirs. He had nothing but supportive parents and an unyielding drive for a just and prosperous society. He never saw how big his mission would become until it did.
Neither did I.
I did not know what that first decision would lead to. I only knew that I wanted to do something. So I picked myself back up, held fast to my beliefs, built connections, and chose to see it through.
Since then, I have found myself doing things I never expected. I began conducting street interviews for Common Ground Campus and writing monthly articles. I have met people I once only knew through a screen and found myself in rooms I never imagined entering. Looking back, it is strange to realize how much can come from one decision that, at the time, seemed so small.
That is what Charlie understood about young people. He did not tell us that we had to wait until we were older, more experienced, or more important before our voices mattered. He treated young people as people capable of doing something now.
His death left behind an absence that cannot simply be filled. But his life left behind an example that can be followed.
I may have never known Charlie Kirk, but he reminded me that influence does not always begin with knowing exactly what you are doing. Sometimes it begins with simply deciding to do something.
And sometimes, you never get to see how far that decision will go.
