A few weeks ago there were men standing within our school holding signs talking about the end of the world and their own homophobic views. The men were quickly ushered off campus, yet they still continued to parade their beliefs in full view of the students, irritating some, and angering many.

But the students of Liberty didn’t viciously retaliate. Instead of going up in the men’s faces and yelling their own views on religion and sexual orientation, they spoke their minds calmly and politely on social media, and to their friends.

When I was on Facebook later that I day, I saw people discussing the events of that day. And a few people discussed yelling at them, correcting them, and telling them how wrong they were to discriminate against homosexual people. But even more mentioned that confrontation was the wrong way to handle the situation. They promoted presenting one’s ideas nicely, in a way that wouldn’t anger others, so that people would actually listen to them. That greatly impressed me.

Here at Liberty, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, interests, and clothing choices, people rarely bully and criticize other’s choices. We do not force our own beliefs upon other people, and believe that if someone’s views are different than our own then they are invalid. We are willing to consider others’ ideas and think about them, instead of immediately tossing them aside, and possibly change our own views based upon someone else’s. Yet we are not to be swayed on Liberty’s values, ideas about accepting others, and valuing all Patriots.

Our actions are kind and caring, and we extend our arms to all Liberty Patriots, trying to make everyone feel accepted and loved in this community. We invite people to events, invite people into clubs and after school activities, and never discriminate based off of purely superficial traits.

I’m extremely proud of the student body here at Liberty. I can only hope that the future years continue this legacy of community and acceptance, both of which help to create an atmosphere that is fit for every student.