Breaking the Cycle Of Violence was an assembly presented to seniors and sophomores on October 20th. While many people had assumed it would’ve been a boring assembly and a chance to sit and talk with their friends. Instead the whole auditorium was silent and listening to the stories being told by survivors of abuse. We got to hear the raw and real stories of people who have learned to forgive such horrible acts, to learn that real growth comes from forgiveness. We heard from Charles Williams, who dealt with an alcoholic mother who was abusive. Years passed by for Williams and yet he still carried a hatred for her, until he learned to forgive her and the weight of all his trauma lifted off of his shoulders. Students of KHS also learned the story of Hashim Garrett, who ran with the wrong group at a young age and got shot by an inner-city gang member that left him paralyzed. Instead of identifying his shooter, Garrett decided he was going to handle him, himself. Instead of going through with this, Hashim learned to forgive the man who left him paralyzed and focused his attention on motivational speaking and learning from this experience. Breaking the Cycle of Forgiveness was a hard assembly for many, but it’s a reminder that we are not alone and growth is possible. No matter if we are in a rough situation or mentally going through it, forgiveness is necessary for healing and withholding it, only hurts you in the end. When you forgive, it’s not to help the person you are forgiving, but instead to help yourself.