Have you ever heard the saying, “You do not know what you have until it’s gone”?

In the same way, we do not think to appreciate the country we were raised in all the time because we never think about having to go without all our freedoms.

Junior Chloe Jankowski is appreciative of how her life is in America, although she forgets it sometimes.

“I think we live in the best country in the world. We are able the think how we want and be what we want to be without the government controlling every aspect of our lives,” Jankowski said.

She thinks about the lives people in other countries live and remembers to be thankful she was raised here.

“Like North Korea and China, I think about how bad some people in other countries have it, such as their standard of living to their personal rights,” Jankowski said. “I take my freedoms for granted sometimes.”

Imagine not having any human rights.

Imagine not having free speech, where the only radio, television, music, and news providers that are deemed legal are those operated by the government. Everything one hears and sees is filtered.

Imagine not being able to own a cellphone or any device with Internet connection.

This is within the daily life of the North Korean population.

In addition, most North Koreans are not even aware a man has landed on the moon.

An estimated 150,000–200,000 innocent people have been incarcerated in various prison camps, including camps that are dedicated to political crimes. These people are subject to forced labor, physical abuse, and execution.

Do not forget, you always must have a picture of the ruler hanging in your house, perfectly straight, because the government can and will barge in at anytime.

You are the government’s property and do not even consider speaking out against that.

That is what life is like in North Korea.

Or, imagine living in an authoritarian state, one that systematically curbs fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion.

A place where there is a limit on how many children you can have.

A place where in order to maintain power in the rural areas, they round up hundreds and execute them.

Well, then you would be a citizen residing in China.

Most of us often forget how easy we have life here in the United States.

We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, whatever that may mean to us individually.

The leaders of our government, from the founding fathers until now, have granted us multiple freedoms that some do not even know we have.

As American citizens, we have more freedoms than most of us can count.

We elect our officials, practice whatever religion we see fit, wear whatever clothes we personally like, and can speak out against anyone, as long as it is not slanderous.

It all boils down to American citizens being allowed to be our own individuals.

Junior Cami Clarambeau has witnessed how life outside this country is firsthand.

“This past summer I went to Nassau, New Providence, an island in the Bahamas. I saw how different life in another country can be,” Clarambeau said. “The people on this island lived in homes that were falling apart, they didn’t have clean drinking water, and trash was piled up in the streets.”

Clarambeau is thankful she has a good life as an American citizen.

“I know that I have been blessed with clean water, a clean home, and clean streets,” Clarambeau said. “But I do believe that we, as Americans, take these things for granted.”