In the beginning of February, Russia began building up troops on the border of Ukraine. They claimed that they were performing a military exercise and that they would be pulling back troops soon. But as time went on, more troops gathered on the border, and on February 24, Russia crossed the border and invaded Ukraine. This conflict that’s happening all the way across the world may seem irrelevant to us in the states, however, there seems to be a lot of talk here at Farmington, because of how this situation could potentially escalate and affect us here.

Even though the conflict is between Ukraine and Russia, NATO became involved, and as a primary member of NATO, the US has responsibilities to take action if Russia oversteps its boundaries. Many people fear that Russia will continue to make these actions that go against what NATO stands for. And if this happens, the US may have to start a war draft which would have a huge impact on Farmington since a lot of the seniors are 18 and are able to be drafted. I asked a couple seniors who are 18 at Farmington about what they would do if they got drafted.

“A lot of you are going to wake up with sore necks, or you know, be dead,” senior, Beau Branch, said.

“At least I don’t have to go to maps,” senior, Jackson Lindsey, said.

While their comments about the draft may be lighthearted, if it becomes a reality, it would be no joke. The last draft ended in 1973, so it would be a very big deal if the federal government issued a draft. There is also the potential that Russia uses nuclear weapons. Although unlikely, if this happens there will definitely be bigger problems than graduating high school.