Editor,
Within the past year, I have been called “a killer,” “a monster” and “a retard.” Yet, I have never fired a single bullet while serving in combat (Operation Iraqi Freedom 2006-2007). I did decide to walk away from a destructive relationship instead of getting married, and I regularly attend the local VA hospital for treatment for my post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, of which I am service-connected disabled.
I have faced these hurtful accusations, not to fill myself with rage, and not to use violence, but to learn about peace, the power of written words and the significance of being humane.
What I have learned most is that these moments of painful experience do not define us. We define ourselves every day in how we treat other people. We individually have a choice in how to respond, and how to live well as human beings.
In closing, I share an Aldous Huxley quote with you as we rise to the occasion in our lives, and choose a hopeful future built on words of peace.
“Experience is not what happens to you. It is what you do with what happens to you.”
Andres F. Lazo
UNM student
