Freddy Hernandez
“Liveas if you were to die tomorrow. Learnas if you were to live forever.” –Mahatma Ghandi
Regardless of what we may think about the killings at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, there is no doubt that history was made on the fateful morning of April 16.
And there was nothing which could have prepared this nation for the horrors that transpired.
While most of us still slept in the warm comfort and safety of our beds this side of the Mississippi, the same cannot be said for the unknowing victims whose day had already begun in bloodshed or for the young man who was at the heart of it.
Shock, disbelief, sorrow and fear were the overwhelming emotions of the day.
While the greater L.A. area was inconvenienced as a result of power outages due to heavy winds, those at Virginia Tech and its surrounding communities suffered something far worse.
While most students attending class at Pierce College Wednesday (two days after the massacre,) worried about midterms and
wondered whether or not class would be in session without electricity, 2,440 miles away, their Virginian counterparts still wondered how one man could commit such an atrocity, wondered what could have driven him to extreme and unspeakable measures-to take the lives of so many, including his own.
Puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? That maybe there’s more to life than just our own hedonistic needs and wants.
After all, how many times have we walked out of our homes without so much as a thought as to how lucky we are to be alive? To say a simple, “I love you,” to those we care about?
When was the last time we stopped to take in the sights and sounds this world has to offer, other than the ring of a cell phone and the images on MySpace?
Or taken a few minutes from our daily agendas to pause and reflect on our lives and the loved ones we share them with?
In today’s constant hustle and bustle, it’s all too easy to lose sight of the non-materialistic things and people we hold dear to our hearts and easier still to complain about them.
Things like our health or the mere fact of getting to see the sun rise and set for one more day let alone people like our parents, our siblings, our children and our friends, even our pets for that matter.
The 32 men and women who were murdered in cold blood will never again get that chance and their families have to live with knowing they died for no good reason.
For the people who did survive, they’re now emotionally scarred and traumatized by the event and most likely have to live with the one burning question everyone’s wondering about: why?
Sadly, there is no answer, only speculation.
Virginia Tech serves as a stark reminder.
A reminder to not take anything for granted and instead live our lives to the fullest today and every day hereafter, because in an instant, it can all be taken away from us without so much as a warning. Much like the way those on that campus died, without warning.
And then it will have been too late.
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