Prayers for Families at Virginia Tech

What a horrific event.

Thousands upon thousands of eighteen year olds take their first step into adulthood each year by venturing off to college. American society today, for those that go to college, allows young people the ability to transition from (what surely seems like to many) 24 hour supervision to a place where they are in control of their schedules without many of the pressures that characterize life in the "real world".

College is a time in most peoples' lives that they remember fondly. I know I do. Great friends. Great times. Great memories. For those of us lucky enough to have family financial support during college, you don't have to worry about a true job. You don't have to worry about paying the bills. All you have to worry about is getting to class on time, homework, and studying for that next test or quiz. While this seems stressful to many students, many claiming they don't have time to get it all done, in truth it is a care-free existence that most would return to at almost any point in their lives.

College life is characterized by few possessions. Theft occurs at colleges but you have so little of value that anything stolen is generally inconsequential. Certainly, other more serious crimes occur on college campuses nationwide. Sexual assaults, physical assaults (usually in the form of fights outside of the local night spot), etc... are unfortunately not uncommon.

However, if one were to go to college in a true college town as opposed to an urban university, you would likely feel very safe wandering the streets at any hour of the day or night no matter your condition. This is especially true for males. Even the police in small college towns often turn a blind eye toward indiscretions or help you get home if you're in need.

Sports weekends bring another air to college campuses, especially in the fall. Fans, long removed from their days on campus, return to support their team, reunite with friends long lost to the perils of time and adulthood, re-live forgotten memories, and celebrate the time they spent on campus. While sports in and of itself has become big business, we all like to pretend that those kids are putting everything on the line for school pride and the sticker on their helmet or the name emblazoned on the front of their jersey.

Another special time of year arrives in the fall on college campuses. New life is breathed into the air upon the arrival of a freshman class. Some of these kids are hungry for knowledge. Most are more likely hungry for freedom. Others are trying to get away from previous perceptions held by their peers and start anew. College affords all of them this ability.

The college environment has many faults. Universities are commonly perceived, and often rightly so, of celebrating diversity at the expense of other more pertinent qualities. When I speak of "diversity" in the previous sentence, I not only refer to race and gender but also diversity in thoughts and views. While distasteful to many, at times including myself, this diversity in thought allows one to explore the furthest reaches in society with little fear of long-term repercussions. Again, this is not always a good thing. Society generally is what it is for a reason. However, the point is that college students are "safe" to explore themselves and their world without fear of someone trying to ruin them or their families for these actions. In fact, colleges are built around "safety". Even professors are awarded carte blanche to express themselves when they attain tenured status. That's the whole point of tenure: to be able to explore unpopular or controversial views or research, stretching the boundaries of currently held "truth", without fear that these actions will negatively impact their ability to make a living. Again, many of these views and much of this research is viewed as distasteful - I even perceive much of it as distasteful - but many past "distasteful" notions are now understood to be fact. After all, to say the Sun was the center of the galaxy was, at one time, heresy.

No, university students and professors are - for the most part - safe, and there is a reason for this safety. Professors are safe to stretch the boundaries of knowledge and students' minds. Students are safe to explore themselves and discover the kind of man/woman they want to be once their college years inevitably draw to a close.

"Safe" is the operative word in the above paragraph.

Safety is what was robbed of the students at Virginia Tech yesterday. Their college years are forever tarnished by the memory of some deviant and his actions. The innocence of college, the innocence of the transition from childhood to adulthood, the innocence of starting over in life, the innocence of mentors assisting you, the innocence of friendships, the innocence of Fall, is forever tarnished.

Certainly, the surviving students will return to Blacksburg, a town nestled in the Virginia hills close to West Virginia, and rekindle old friendships and memories after they graduate. However, these memories will forever be made more poignant by the events of April 16th, 2007. Those innocent memories will never be the same.

Many families will never be the same. Sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, grandsons, granddaughters, future moms, and future dads were lost yesterday. Bright minds were extinguished before they had the chance to fully contribute to society.

Part of the reason I chose my career is the safety and innocence with which I remember college. Unfortunately, days like yesterday remind us that there is evil in the world and no bastion of safety and innocence is immune. It is easy to go about our daily lives, far removed from Blacksburg, and only think of the horror that occurred yesterday as a sad event primarily affecting someone else. We all have to do this to cope and remain productive members of society. We cannot go through OUR lives in a perpetual state of worry and remorse over past events. However, I would call upon everyone today to take a moment, sit in silence, and pray for the Virginia Tech families and community. Pray for comfort. Pray for mental peace. Pray that they will be safe in every meaning of the word.