On April 27, 2015, I watched as a mob looted and burned the CVS on Pennsylvania and North Avenue in Baltimore City. Tensions were running high following multiple reports of police brutality, unrest in the black community and the death of Freddie Gray, culminating in the looting and burning of the CVS and other buildings across the city. As a native of Baltimore and a former employee of that CVS, I would be lying if I said these events didn't have an impact on me. For months I, along with the rest of the country watched events unfold that lead to unrest and rioting in cities across the nation, never imagining that this would personally affect me.

Before the death of Freddie Gray and the rioting, I worked at that CVS while attending college for one year, but had been working with the company since high school. During this period, it became much more than a job; it was apart of my identity. Like many students, I went to class and then to work everyday. As I watched the CVS burn, I couldn't help but feel a loss. But, after the flames were extinguished, instead of being angry, I saw this as an opportunity. It would have been easy to be angry and hold the people of the community responsible. I couldn't understand how you could destroy your own community, while also claiming to support the Black Lives Matter movement. I realized that although working at that CVS became part of my identity, it was only a building, and paled in comparison to the loss of life. That loss I briefly felt changed the trajectory of my life and helped me become more sympathetic.

Now, more than ever, it's easy to become desensitized to bad news. Our phones give us access to constant streams of information at all times, but this has its disadvantages. According to the work of Associate Professor of Psychology and contributor to The Huffington Post Christopher J. Ferguson, most people can distinguish fictional, or media violence from real-life violence. Thus, hearing and reading about violence in the news may cause some to compartmentalize bad news; not fully acknowledging it.

Ferguson writes, "Unlike real-life violence, many people don’t find media violence to be aversive. There appears to be a clear distinction in the ways our brains treat and respond to fictional violence and real-life violence in regards to our emotional reaction."

On April 27, 2015 I watched as the CVS was looted and burned, and I'll always be grateful for that experience.