For the first year or two afterwards, when I mentioned that I went to VT, everyone's first words out of their mouth were "were you there for April 16th?" It got on my nerves so much that that was the only thing we were recognized for anymore, and I thank all of you for being good about not asking me that if you and I have started up a little bit of a conversation on the site here.
I believe that most of us that were in school at the time (the seniors after this year won't even have been there on that day) have come to terms with it, and we all come together as a community to pray for and remember the families and those lost on that day.
Here's my recount of that day:
I woke up that morning - to snow! in April! to find like 12 police cars outside the dorm across from mine. Here's an old camera phone picture.
- police cars aj.jpg (22.91 KiB) Viewed 1292 times
I was shocked, as was just about everyone else on campus. It was just a horrible thing to have happened to totally undeserving people. Living your everyday life, you just never think anything like that could ever happen. Media was around campus for the remainder of the semester - they really began to get on everyone's nerves, mine included.
VT Police were criticized after the fact for their slow response time, but I really think they did the best they could have possibly done in a scenario that could never have been predicted and they were totally unprepared for.
About a week after, the school quickly set up a memorial with each of the names of the victims on the Drillfield outside Burruss Hall. Students were given the rest of the semester off from classes, and exams were optional at the end of the year for those that chose to stay around. The media swarmed in on the campus for the remainder of the semester, and both the media and police presence was outrageous. You couldn't go anywhere for the few days afterward without having a camera shoved in your face, and I really wish they had done a better job of controlling them. It's was just disrespectful.
Every year, VT does a huge community service project in commemoration to help out local communities around us, called VT Engage. There's a 3.2-mile run on the day of the 16th, and a nighttime candlelight vigil held every year on the Drillfield.
Today, I am still (and always have been) proud to be a Hokie and to be part of this great school and community, and it has helped make me who I am today.
Please keep those families and students that were an unfortunate part of all of this in your thoughts and prayers. The tornadoes that tore through parts of Virginia and North Carolina yesterday were also very destructive and changed many people's lives forever - so keep them in mind as well if you would. Something like 60 tornadoes touched down in North Carolina - in Raleigh and the surrounding area. My family lives right outside of there; I got a call from mom yesterday saying that they were all OK, and nothing but a tree had come down and fallen right down in between the house and the driveway, narrowly missing both their house and cars.
~Justin
