Live for 32

"Let April 16th be on our future calendars. Yes, to remember those precious members of our community who we lost. . . But also to renew our commitment to learning and growing . . . to rededicate ourselves to being outstanding citizens of this great nation and the world. . . to be a bright light on the horizon of tomorrow that will chase away the darkness of our fears, to show the world once again that We. . .are. . . Virginia Tech!"
- President Charles W. Steger, Spring 2007 Commencement

When others have moved on and life resumes its course, for us, there is only one emotion left: LOVE. Love for this university, love for the people who died on April 16th 2007, and love for those who are left behind. Live for 32.

‎"I ask each of you to take the time to be a Hokie this week. Appreciate life a little more, take in every moment around you, count your blessings, tell the people around you that you love them, slow down, remember what's truly important in life. And live for those 32 who do not have that chance anymore." 4.16.07


See my heartfelt post from last year. 

live for 32.. neVer forgeT

April 16, 2007. A day no Hokie will ever forget. 

It started as a regular Monday morning as students in Blacksburg, VA were getting ready for classes. It was early so most of the kids that had classes were underclassmen (senior's wouldn't dare sign up for anything earlier than 10am). My roommate/best friend came into our apartment (less than a mile off campus) to say something was wrong. She had attempted to get on campus before class to study and saw police cars driving around with loudspeakers saying something along the lines of "Gunman on campus, stay indoors."  Immediately we tried to get in touch with anyone we knew that was on campus to figure out what was going on. We turned on the news and waited. Slowly, phone calls trickled in, news stories starting appearing and Facebook/AIM went crazy. There was a shooter on campus and 2 people in West AJ (A huge co-ed freshman dorm) had been killed.  Rumors swirled that it was a guy and a girl in a lover's quarrel, so we all thought the worst was over. Then the news started reporting another shooting with multiple victims. The casualty count rose from 1 to 4, 4 to 6, 6 to 10. We continued to frantically check AIM and Facebook. Anyone who was idle or hadn't updated their facebook, we tried calling. The poor cell phone towers in Blacksburg got jammed (much like football weekends), as family/friends from outside Blacksburg starting checking in on loved ones. My roomates and I sat with our computers in our laps watching the news in shock. Most of us had contact with at least 1 friend/family member outside of Blacksburg so they were assured we were safe. The greek community sent emails out to sororities and fraternities in an attempt to account for everyone. We received an email from someone whose dad was a police officer in Blacksburg.... it said to brace for the worst, that the casualty count on the news was was lower than what had really happened. Then the news jumped to 32 victims and we all just sat there. How could this be happening in our little town? Why here?

 The news immediately named it the "Virginia Tech Massacre" as the deadliest mass shooting in America. We watched the news for the next couple days completely in shock. We walked around campus, congregating on the drillfield to contribute to various impromptu memorials. We watched the news until we wanted to puke, then felt guilty when we weren't watching it. We stayed up as late as we could, sleeping in each other's beds for comfort and woke up thinking, "When we we feel normal again?". We heard gruesome and heroic stories from survivors. We cried for days on end, mourning the Hokies we lost. We held our friends close as we went through a range of emotions together. Some students immediately left campus for home. For me, a senior, I couldn't have been paid to leave. It had been our home for 4 years,  the greatest little town on Earth. I didn't feel any less safe. It could have happened anywhere. The University took a lot of heat for staying open after the first shootings. Many believed closing campus could have prevented the second shooting. I completely disagree, if he really wanted to do it, he would have done it the next day. And he could have done it in McBryde, an auditorium that held 500+ students. 

The Hokies showed the world how to come together as a community. They were impressed by our school spirit and kind nature, but we were just coping as best we could. We watched Air Force One land in our backyard and attended the convocation as Nikki Giovanni gave the most moving speech I had ever heard. We shocked the world by cheering "Let's Go Hokies" at every event -- it made us feel good. We are a football school and that is our way of showing our support. I had never loved Virginia Tech more. 

Looking back, it's hard to believe it's been 3 years. It's hard for me to actually sum up the impact it's had on my life. I am SO extremely proud to be a HOKIE every single day of my life. I honestly think these quotes embodies my feelings: 


"While Tech is so much more than that one moment, it is a part of who we are. We are all stronger and better because of it. We would like to think we're no longer as selfish, and certainly ready to willingly carry the memories of those we lost on that day with us forever. We have started to move on, but we will never, ever forget."

"While 32 of our friends and classmates are in Heaven trying to explain what a Hokie is, I stand here sure in the fact that I wouldn't want to be anything else." What is a hokie? I AM. 

So in closing:
"I ask each of you to take the time to be a Hokie this week. Appreciate life a little more, take in every moment around you, count your blessings, tell the people around you that you love them, slow down, remember what's truly important in life. And live for those 32 that do not have that chance."

We will prevail

Transcript of Nikki Giovanni's Convocation address

Delivered April 17, 2007

Professor Nikki Giovanni speaks
at Convocation, April 17, 2007.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.

We are Virginia Tech.

We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.

We are Virginia Tech.

We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.

We are Virginia Tech.

The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.

We are the Hokies.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We will prevail.

We are Virginia Tech.

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we remember

In Memory of All Those We Have Loved and Lost: video. 

Disclaimer: This is VERY moving. The song is so sad and brings back so many memories (good and bad). Be careful watching this at work. I can't watch it without crying. But I love it nonetheless.