"But the words won't play, and there's no easy way to say goodbye"
The title of this blog comes from a section of lyrics from the song 'Goodbye' by Natalie Imbruglia. I see it as the struggle to find the right words to say goodbye to someone, and also a fitting phrase to relate to yesterday's events.
Like many across the United States, and perhaps all over the world, I'm still shaken by the tragic shootings that took place at Northern Illinois University yesterday.
I imagine everyone will always remember where they were when they heard the news, and who told them. I certainly won't forget:
I came back to my room after a long day of classes and such, and plopped down at my computer to take a load off. As soon as I sat down, at about 3:53pm, my friend who is studying abroad in Austria sent me a link to the news alert that NIU posted on its website. I read the sentence "There has been a shooting on campus" at least 3 times over before I realized what it meant. Instinctively, I reached for my phone to call my friend, and when I did, I noticed I had a missed call from him already. I called the line and got no reply, so I had a moment of panic. I called a mutual friend and she answered already knowing why I was calling. She said she talked to our friend and that he was OK, just really shaken. After I talked to him on the phone myself and he described to me what he'd heard and what friends of his had seen, I felt sick. At the same time, the overwhelming feeling of relief soothed me. My friend had been in the building where the shooting took place only two hours prior.
A shooting at a school, an environment that encourages academic and personal prosperity, is especially heartbreaking. Students all across the nation, including myself, envision similar incidents on their own campus. And with the randomness in which these shootings occur, nothing is impossible. The best we can all do is fulfill our purposes and satisfy the reasons we decided to go into the world of learning and hope for the best. We also must demand from the administrations of our universities an efficient as possible alert system so isolated incidents of violence do not spread across campus.
I know there's nothing I can say or do to compensate for the lives lost in yesterday's tragedy. However, I want to say to the students and staff of NIU - stay strong and keep the memory of those who lost their lives in your hearts and thoughts, and also think of those who were injured. My thoughts are most certainly with all of you, and to all of the friends and families of the victims of this senseless act of violence.
To everyone else, take just a moment to hold those you love a little closer and tell them how thankful you are for their presence in your life.
Keep on learning.
Jake, you continue to surprise me by your incredible insight and all of the things you write here. :) I'm kind of honored to call you my friend.
Posted by: Sarah Hopkins | February 22, 2008 at 04:35 PM