Today.

Most of us know what to today is. Maybe not because we remembered it directly but because we likely saw it on the news last night just before heading to bed or woke up this morning and caught the 20 second clip of it again before heading off to work and going on about the rest of our days. But for those of us that were in college 2 years ago, today stands out as more than just another Thursday. Today stands out as more than just a day that marks a tragic event that some may or may not remember. Today marks a day that we’ll truly never forget.
Today, April 16, is the day that Seung-Hui Cho, a name that we’ll none forget, killed 32 people before turning the gun on himself, at Virginia Tech. It marks a day that changed the way Colleges all over the US functioned. And for a single day, many classes seized to go forth. At CNU students came together with people they didn’t know and cried, we prayed, and we gathered around with candles as the dawn set. The next morning we rose as the morning sun did and gathered together and prayed again. The entire university, normally bearing proud our school colors of blue and silver, bore the colors of Tech. We mourned the loss of those we knew and those we didn’t. We feared for our school and the security that wasn’t in place. We rattled our brains for what we could do to help contribute and comfort the ache that the kids at Tech felt and as the entire campus gathered on the lawn with candles and cried a mere 300 miles a way, we felt a connection with Tech just because we were college students.
And as college students are walking around today, graduated some of us, some still remembering as they attend classes and the memorial events that their campus will hold, it’s a hard day for us. Because we remember just what we were doing when we learned of the shooting. We remember being worried for our close friends at tech. We remember worrying that it could have been our University and it could happen in our class room. We remember the harsh reality of the whole thing and hoping that the large number of those dead that just kept increasing would be untrue. We remember just a few short weeks later taking several surveys on what we could do to better our security in our school and knowing that it was all due to the Tech massacre and feeling our hearts plummet all over again. We remember crying ourselves to sleep after hearing the names and learning more about all 32 students and teachers lost. We remember crying because we were just so impacted. And We remember the hope we felt by seeing all the students from every campus rallying together with one another in support of each other and in support of Tech.
There is another very selective group that will never forget today. And that is the family of the 33 lives taken on today, two years ago. As we hold memorials and as tech students and families ran the 3.2 miles for the 32 lives lost this morning, they too also remember turning on their TV and hoping, just hoping, that maybe it wasn’t their son, daughter, sister, brother, husband or wife involved in that awful thing. And hours later being confirmed of their most dreadful nightmares, what they feared most was true. Their beloved had not only been shot but also their life had been one of the one’s taken. They will never forget either.
So as you go to sleep tonight, remember today as the family members and friends remember it. Remember today as college students remember it. And remember it as your saw it happen 2 years ago. Remember the pain you felt, the shock you felt… Don’t forget that. Today is a day to be remembered... not a day to be forgotten.
As a college student during the tech massacre, I proudly wore my Maroon and Orange today… because on one day every year, we’re all Hokies.