This past Saturday, I woke up to some very shocking news. After her concert in Orlando, Christina Grimmie, famous for singing original and cover songs on YouTube and a 3rd place winner on the Voice, was shot and later taken to the hospital where she died. When I first heard this news, I didn’t think it was true. I thought, maybe, that it was some kind of rumor and later Christina herself, or someone on her management team, would deny that it happened. I was stunned when I found out the rumor was actually true. How could someone possibly want to hurt such a talented and beautiful person with such a bright future ahead of her? What caused someone to want to do this to her? What causes anyone to want to take the lives of any innocent person? Not just hers.

I first heard about Christina Grimmie about four or five years ago during my freshman year of high school through two of my best friends. I thought she was a very talented performer with a great personality and a lot of potential to make it big in the music industry. She had her own unique style that no one else could replicate. When she first auditioned for the Voice about two years ago, I was so excited! I thought finally she was going to get the recognition that she deserved. By that point, if I remember correctly, she had either just released or was close to releasing her second album. So, she wasn’t a complete unknown by any means; but I still felt she deserved to have a larger fan base. Even though she didn’t end up winning the competition, more and more people started to realize what a talented person she was.

I’ll admit that after she left the Voice, I didn’t follow her career as much as I did when I was first introduced to her. I never stopped enjoying her music; she just kind of fell off my radar, so to speak. All of that changed, almost a week ago, when I found out that she had died. I don’t think the death of any artist has ever hit me so hard. I spent almost the whole day listening to her music and it suddenly hit me how much of an impact she had on me and my two best friends. We spent pretty much all of high school following her career and listening to her music together.

One of the first songs that my friend and I ever sang together was "Liar Liar", one of Grimmie’s original songs from her first album. One thing that gives me comfort in all of this is that I truly believe she is in Heaven, and I’m certain that she is still singing with the angels. My heart really goes out not only to her family, but to the families of all the innocent victims who had their lives taken away in Orlando- or anywhere else in the world. It is so terrible that tragedies like this happen and I hope that sooner, rather than later, we can come together and find a way to stop these senseless acts of violence.