January 12th 2022.

Six months to the day that my world changed forever. My world changed in a way that I hope that nobody ever has to experience. Sophie, who was one of my closest friends, passed away from suicide. When you are a young adult, death is an incredibly abstract topic, and for someone who likes set rules, this was - and forever will be - difficult. There are no “rules” for when someone so close to you dies. In the wake of her passing, I was grateful to have such an amazing support system. Some days it still feels like I’m waking up to a text I never wanted to read, but others it feels like everything just might be ok. Sophie was one of the most amazing people I have ever met. From the second grade, you could tell this was one intelligent person. She was kind, generous, funny (in the way that it took a couple seconds to comprehend her humor), smart (when I say smart, I mean like, she taught herself Russian just for fun. She had level of intelligence and wit that would knock anyone’s socks off), and a ton of other adjectives she could come up with.

We both wanted to change the world. I think that there’s a little bit of “change the world” in everyone. Very few people do though. Sophie, she changed the world. I am very science focused and there is a scientific law that I kept looking over after Sophie died. The Law of Conservation of Energy, states that energy cannot be created nor destroyed. So the energy that flowed through the Earth millions of years ago, that same energy continues to flow through the Earth. The energy cannot disappear. It can only change forms. The energy in Sophie, that energy to change the world, it never left. It continues to change and flow. It continues to change the world. Sophie may be gone, but the energy inside her. All that energy to make the world a better place, to be a good person, it continues and will continue always. 

-Love Bennett