At first, I was scared of being a college student. I was scared because I knew that I would have to walk back to my dorm room by myself, that I would have some classes running later in the day and I'd have to walk back in the dark. But after a while, I wasn't so scared anymore. I've grown to love my college, the campus, and the people here. I wasn't scared to walk by myself anymore. I wasn't scared when I had to walk back to my room at midnight by myself after I'd watched a movie for one of my classes. I wasn't scared to rollerblade at night with friends and go to McDonald's even though it was one in the morning. I wasn't scared for my friends who walked back from the parties they went to. But now? Everything's different. Why? One word...

Clowns.

If you haven't heard about this yet, then bless your lucky heart. Apparently, there have been people walking around in clown suits around big cities as well as college campuses, but their intentions aren't entirely clear. Some people have said that it's just a prank; they're just kids being dumb, trying to scare their friends. But other people have also said that some of the clowns have been carrying weapons with them. I've heard that multiple people have been hurt by these clowns. But that's just what I've heard...right? That's what I thought. But when I was scrolling through Facebook this morning, I saw an article that had been shared by numerous people I'd graduated with. The article was about a man--dressed as a clown--that had been arrested for charge of first-degree murder, which happened in a town forty minutes away from my hometown.

I'm really not sure what I'm supposed to believe at this point. All I know is that the campus that I once was able to call my new home, is now a place where I don't feel safe walking around anymore. I've already heard from multiple people that there have been three clowns on my college's campus.

This just makes me wonder, what is one's motivation to do something like this? If it's a serious thing where people are interested in hurting innocent little children, why? I cannot possibly wrap the idea around my head. When did we get to this point? When did someone decide that this would be funny?

At this point, all I can say is that I'm pretty disappointed with not only the US but also with the entire world. We've gone so far off of the path that will lead us to a better future, and instead we haven't just gotten lost, we've fallen entirely off of the path itself. When did we even begin to slip even the slightest bit? I guess I don't really know.