Angela Tampol
Undergraduate student and School of Public Health staff
UNLV is home.
For the past five years, I lived on campus at UNLV and have been a student, staff and mentor. UNLV gave me a community I’ve been passionate about. The hundreds of students I’ve conducted tours for, became a sexual health educator for, and the amount of classmates and co-workers that became life-long friends. This was the place I found my identity. This was the community where I connected with my culture, sexuality and individuality, and there was never a place in my life at UNLV where I was not happy with the circle of people I had. If you’re reading this, you’ve been part of that circle, and I’ll always be thankful. My goal was always to come back to UNLV, but not like this. A tragedy happened, a school shooting in the place that was my safe space. It happened as the U.S. Senate blocked the assault weapons ban. It happened as students were studying for their finals. It happened as people were getting ready to finish the semester and see their families. It happened as people were having lunch and catching up on how their semester has been. It happened as students were sleeping in at the resident halls after catching up on Canvas all night. It happened while people were skating, walking their dogs and picnicking on campus. It happened as a prospective student was excited to start their future at UNLV while a future graduate was ready to finish. How much more blood will be shed until we’re safe? When will we be able to live without watching the lives of others be taken away in front of us?
