I just wanted to share this with you all. All of you have seen the tragedy that occurred on 04/16/07 on the campus of Virginia Tech. Many of you were probably at Tech sometime this week, and may have seen this. Maybe you didn't. This is for all of you that did not. It just meant so much to me as a former student and now a PROUD alumni, inspired me and filled me with hope, and really altered the way i looked at my own life. I don't know how to explain it, except that it caused me to pause and reflect upon myself, and what has happened, why this happened, and maybe what the purpose in all this is. I dunno. I just wanted to share it with everyone, and hope that it will touch you, if even a little, as it has for me.

We all need something in this tragedy, to help us through it and cope with it. For me, this was the point where I was able to come to peace with it all. After reading this short, open letter by a photographer named John Havran, I knew that my life would be changed forever, and it would be a change I couldn't keep to myself, but instead I would want to share.

AN OPEN LETTER

"When we pass through a door, whether entering or leaving, whether 18 or 76, we cannot know if we will ever pass through again. We cannot know everyone who has preceded us, we cannot know all those who will follow, or even how long the door will stand. We can only know our intentions. I was always taught that a gentleman holds the door open so that others may pass through first. Monday, both a teacher and some students taught me that a gentleman must sometimes struggle to hold a door shut. I will never pass through a door again without remembering what has happened at Virginia Tech. But Monday's horror will not keep me from passing through these or any other doors. For when I pass through a door it will be with the knowledge that my purpose will always be to be doing something for which I would not mind being remembered for. I will always check any unkind thoughts at the door. I will hold the door open for those in need, even if it is those in need of a second chance. And I will hold the door shut for as long as I can, whenever I must."

I cannot get the words of a song out of my head. For some reason, they had come to mind soon after I awoke at 5:30 a.m . Monday morning.

"Are you going away with no words of farewell?
Will there be not a trace left behind?
I could have loved you better, I didn't mean to be unkind.
You know that was the last thing on my mind."

We all leave the traces behind. Some leave traces that will last longer than these doors will stand. The tracks of some tears seem all too permanent. We do not always have a chance to say farewell.
-John Havran

"It is sad and tragic that this happened to us. Because we love this university, we are devastated by what happened here. But if it was necessary for us to suffer in order for others to benefit, it is a burden we will bear, because our motto -- Ut Prosim, That I May Serve -- tells us that's what we must do. If our tragedy brings you together, if our loss makes you safer and makes you value what is important in life, if our suffering is not in vain, then we are prepared to shoulder this load ... so you don't have to. That has always been the mission of this university, and we are honored to carry it out...know that when the bodies are in the earth, when the media has left, when others have moved on and life resumes its course, that for us, there is only one emotion left: Love. Love for this university, love for the people who died on April 16th, 2007, and love for those who are left behind."

I do believe that we as a university have been chosen, that we have a purpose in this tragedy. That maybe all this time the "Hokies United" idea that was created during 9/11 was merely our "practice" (to put it in football terms, for all my Hokies, once again)... and now it is time for us to rush the field. It is game time, and we must step up and show the world that even in the darkest of times and the saddest of hours, there is always hope and light at the end of the tunnel. Maybe we were chosen because of who we are, as a university, a community, and ultimately a family. Maybe that young man's mental anguish that lead to these terrible actions did carry a meaning. But not the meaning he intended in his delusional thoughts... maybe those were just the necessary evil to bring about the good. Maybe his actions carried to us as students, alumni, and supporters a meaning in who we are. Why we are the tight community that we are.

"We are Virginia Tech
We are sad today
And we will be sad for quite a while
We are NOT moving on
We are embracing our mourning
We are Virginia Tech
We are strong enough to stand tall tirelessly
We are brave enough to bend to cry, and sad enough to know
We must laugh again
We are Virginia Tech
We do not understand this tragedy
We know we did nothing deserve it
But neither does the child in Africa, dying of AIDS
Neither do the invisible children, walking the night away to avoid being captured by rogue army
Neither does the baby elephant, watching his community be devastated for ivory
Neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water
Neither does the Appalachian child, killed in his own crib, in the home his father built with his own hands, being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized
No one deserves a tragedy
We are Virginia Tech
The Hokie nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those that offer their hearts and minds
We are strong and brave and innocent and unafraid,
We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be
We are live to the imagination
And the possibility we will continue to invent the future
Through our blood and tears
Through all this sadness
We are the Hokies
We will prevail
We will prevail
We will prevail
WE ARE...
...VIRGINIA TECH"
-Nikki Giovanni, Virginia Tech Convocation 04.17.07

We will prevail, of this I have no doubt. But while we prevail we must recognize the awesome burden we must carry. We must be the light unto the world. As I walked the campus this weekend, I saw and felt random acts of kindness everywhere. It was a feeling of hope, and love you could see as doors were held open longer, or eye contact was made, random hugs were shared between total strangers. This is a feeling that has spread across the world as well, as anyone associated with the university can attest. Letters, messages, and emails from random strangers have come from near and far, just to offer their sympathy. But they have had a week to mourn, and can move on. WE CANNOT. We must wake up and face this nightmare everyday. But we must understand the reasons why. WE MUST keep this feeling alive. And we cannot let the world move on. MAYBE if these feelings are not allowed to fade, the world can change, if even just a little. If the world is not allowed to forget, maybe these tragedies will not have to occur. If we all were even just a little kinder to those around us, imagine the combined good that could come of it! People like Cho might not be allowed to slip through the cracks unnoticed, never allowed to become so estranged from humanity and society, and be lost to us all.

It is sad that we as society need such horrible wakeup calls such as the loss of 33 innocent lives. And YES. I do include him in the lives of the innocent. He never asked for this to happen. And I'm sure he never wanted to feel the way he did. No one can imagine the terrible agony he must have been in, the mental hell that had consumed him. No one deserves such torture. But if these lives can have an impact, if we can all make a change, then this ultimate sacrifice of everyone involved will not be in vain. Their sacrifice can become a blessing... just so long as we keep their memories in the front of our minds, close to our hearts... and the vision of God's purpose for everyone in this in our thoughts.

I know that for the rest of my days, every time I walk into a door, I will remember. I also know that I will check for those who may need for me to hold the door for them. And most of all, I pray that if the time ever comes, I will be the kind of man who will fight and struggle until my last breath to hold the door closed, if the situation requires so that others may live. I have always wanted to believe that this is the man I would someday be, and for me, this experience has taught me that it is a strength I hold inside of me. If I am ever called to give my life so that others may live, I know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that I will gladly answer the call.

"To hokies everywhere. Do not let these deaths be forgotten. We as a HOKIE nation must now rally around our battle cry. Let us give HOKIES UNITED new meaning. Let us as a student body, alumni, faculty, supporters, and fans everywhere stand together, and show what being a HOKIE is all about. Let us show the world our true strength in the face of such tragedy, that we will stand together and remember our fallen HOKIE brothers and sisters, that we will stand UNITED.

What is a Hokie? I AM." ~Scott Presley (04/16/07)

I'm sorry I consumed so much of your time, but it was something I had to do, with the hope that the words above will touch you, as they have touched me.

Always with a HOKIES love,

-s, PROUD HOKIE ALUM