The Virginia Tech Massacre

On April 16, 2007, a shooting occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech. I am sure that by now everyone has heard about what happened. On Monday, 33 people were killed and many were injured in two shootings. The rampage ended when the gunman killed himself. It's hard to even imagine what kind of person would do something like this. It is an American tragedy that will never be forgotten.

Right now, I think that I am still in shock that something like this could happen. The scariest part for me is that it could have easily happened here in Clemson or any other campus. When I found out that the second person killed by the gunman was a resident assistant in the dormitory where the first victim lived, I was speechless. As a resident assistant here at Clemson, I had a lot of strong feelings about this. I've confronted situations--situations with emotionally unstable residents--and not for one moment did I ever think my life was in danger. You never expect to be killed trying to help someone. As a resident assistant, we are trained to refer people to counseling services, but that's about all we can do. We can't force people to get help--only they can do that. We are trained to confront situations with caution, but you can only do so much. You can't prepare for the unimaginable. I think my role as a resident assistant will be changed forever because of this.

People continue to debate on what could have been done and what should have been done by VT, but the fact of the matter is that they did what they could. To blame them is unfair. I mean, there's probably not too much protocol written about how to handle a massacre. I can totally understand why the emails were delayed and why classes weren't cancelled until later. The first incident seemed like an isolated incident, and people claimed that they saw the gunman leaving campus. They never expected the gunman would go on to kill more people. They assumed that there was motive in the first incident and that other students were not in that much danger. I do admit that they could have sent out an email to inform the campus of what had happened and that everyone should be cautious, but how much could they really do? Email is not very reliable. Most people only check their email about twice a day. Yes, there are some, like myself, who keeps Eudora open at all times and listens for the sound of incoming mail. There is no way that VT could have warned the whole campus of 26,000 students (9,000 on campus)...that's like trying to warn a whole small town.

Then there's the whole discussion on how this could have been prevented. Even though the gunman was a very disturbed and emotionally unstable man, there was nothing his professors or peers could have done to prevent this. You cannot force someone to get help if they don't want to get help. And, if VT's counseling services are anything like Clemson's, no one can do anything for someone else unless *THEY* want to get help or they actually threaten someone.
I think that we can take a lot from this. We can't walk around being paranoid all day, but we can be more open-minded and pay more attention to people. Maybe a siren could be used to warn campuses of a dangerous situation, like sirens are used to warn towns of bad weather. Of course, the two sounds would need to be distinctly different. Something else that we can do to help prevent future events like this from happening is to be more aware of our peers. You can learn a lot about someone if you just listen to them. A person who needs help doesn’t usually ask for it—you have to show them. And, last but not least, don't think that this can’t or won't happen again. Just remember that we aren't guaranteed anything--life is the most precious gift we are given, so live life to the fullest and be thankful that you've been given another day.