As April 16 nears, people’s Facebook profile pictures become Virginia Tech logos donned with a black ribbon and statuses become about the 32 wonderful lives that were lost. As a freshman, I really don’t have much of a connection with the tragedy. I didn’t know any of the victims, although a few of my friends had family members studying at Tech at the time. However, the clear recollection I hold of that day astonishes me.
I come from a small town in southwest Virginia, so Tech is a large part of my local area. It was absurd to think something so sinister could occur in the peaceful rural region. As I watched the television stories about the developments in Blacksburg, I was amazed that something that terrible could happen at a place like Tech. I remember my friends’ worries about their loved ones, and I remember how Tech’s sense of community, strength, resilience and unity stunned the world. I was completely perplexed about the whole situation.
Three short years later, I decided to attend Tech — it was everything I could ever want. The campus is beautiful and serene, and the sense of community Tech and Blacksburg offered allured me the second I took my first campus tour a year ago. Now I’m about to finish my freshman year at Tech. And this past weekend was the first April 16 I’ve spent in Blacksburg. After attending the April 16 events, I’ve come to believe that participating in the Day of Remembrance is crucial to the virtues and traditions Tech holds dear.
A few of my friends and I decided to attend the April 16 midnight memorial candle lighting ceremony. As the clock approached midnight, I gazed up at the slightly illuminated facade of Burruss Hall, reflecting on the 32 lives lost four years ago. The dead silence on the Drillfield exemplified the placidity Tech is renowned for. The feeling was overwhelming — chills ran down my spine, and they weren’t from the slightly frigid winds.
On April 16, I attended the candlelight vigil. The amount of Tech community members that attended was amazing. The vigil also gave me insight on the 32 victims — some of them had similar interests, and some of them were involved in the same organizations I am. It made me realize those 32 students were just like me. The small acts of respect and honor held for the victims completely transformed my perspective of Tech.
A version of this article appeared in the Apr 21 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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At some point we will have to move on and stop dwelling over this. It was a tragedy and the work of one mad student who was kept in school only thru politically correct administrators who were too cowered to make tough decisions regarding him.
The 12th anniversary of the Columbine attacks was yesterday (April 20). Did anyone mourn it in large numbers or gatherings? No. The day before that was the 16th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing. Did anyone really stop between 9:01 and 9:03 to remember it?
The risk from continuing to attempt holding the candles in the drillfield ceremony annually is that the crowds are going to diminish with each successive year. As the event gets further removed from the present, each new class of student is going to have much less of a connection to it. We should end the ceremony before it gets down to a paltry twenty five holding candles in an otherwise empty field.
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