Column: Communicating with those we care for
Eric Connolly, CT Columnist
April 20, 2007
It's impossible to remember Monday's events and not think of hate and violence. The total disrespect for life displayed by Cho Seung-Hui and the rampage he went on will no doubt scar the Virginia Tech community forever. But in similar dark hours of recent years, there has also been an overwhelming response against such actions.
Any student or faculty member who has a cell phone can attest to how many people care about each and every one of us. The first to call me was my mother. She was already in tears, and just hearing her voice in a state of complete worry almost made me cry. My phone continued to ring non-stop for the next 12 hours, with calls, text messages and voicemails from people I haven't heard of in months, and sometimes, years. Even though we may not have spoken or seen one another recently, they all cared about me enough to contact me. I was also sending text messages to friends to make sure they were ok. While waiting for a reply, I was left hoping that none of my messages would go unanswered. With all of this checking in on one another, something that wouldn't have been possible or as popular even five years ago, it made me wonder: Why don't we do this more often?
Today, most students are available for communication with in numerous ways: voice, text, email, Facebook, AIM. I had people check up on me using each of these, and I used a few to check up on people myself. But where were we every other day of the year? We get so caught up in school and life that we sometimes forget about those around us who mean the most to us. I had a friend who I went to most of grade school check up on me, and it made me realized how we haven't kept in much as we should have.
If someone asked me one thing I've learned from the events of April 16, I would say how important it is to let friends and family know how much they mean to us. At the cost of sounding cliche, we forget how fragile life is. We plan out our days, months and years, taking for granted the time we've been given. We plan out our summers, our graduation plans and the rest of our futures.
I hope many of my fellow seniors are reevaluating their post-collegiate lives and their plans for salaries and new cars. I think few of us realize that we're about to leave the part of our lives where we've enjoyed the most freedom of our short lives, yet it's not too late. With classes, for the most part, over for the semester, we are given what few others are given: time. Time to hike the Cascades with an old friend, or to go the batting cages with a former roommate. More importantly, time to heal. The next few weeks, no matter your academic year, are probably the most important weeks, that will determine where we go from here, and bring light back into our lives.