Thursday, December 8, 2011

Strength in Numbers

Today I experienced something that has left me both shaken and with a sense of pride in my school. Today, Virginia Tech, my home for the past three years, had a shooting. While the April 16th shooting was shocking and still moves me to this day, I was actually on campus today when the sirens started and the phone calls came in. The initial reports stated that shots had been fired on the other side of campus from where I was working on a project. Then the suspect was reported much farther away. And then he was reported just a few buildings away from me, where they had started to evacuate students into a safer area. Even though I was a in a very secure room in a very secure building, I was scared. My group and I continued to work on our project but the room was filled with the buzz of incoming news, concerned chatter, and students receiving worried phone calls from relatives, of which I received quite a few and am glad to have such a loving family.

There were two deaths today: the initial death of the officer and another victim. While tragedies like this are terrible and full of sorrow, they do prove the strength and unity of our community. The ability for thousands of different people to come together and support each other under such trying circumstances is incredible and I am so proud to be a part of such an extraordinary group of people.

We are all safe after being under lock down for several hours. I am home and happy for it. My biggest worry now is studying for finals.

I would ask that you continue to pray for the Hokie community, as I am sure that this will continue to affect us.

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