I was 12-years-old on April 16, 2007. For some reason, my memories of that day haven't faded with time.
I had just gotten home from school when my friends and I saw the news flash across the television screen. There had been a shooting at Virginia Tech, a tragedy that seemed worlds away from a seventh-grader in Northern Virginia with few ties to the University.
We watched as the death toll rose from 15 to 20, 20 to 30, and finally, from 30 to 32. Nobody said much — what's there to say?
The next fall, I remember watching the season premiere of College GameDay from my living room couch. Chris Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, and Lee Corso were set up just outside Lane Stadium, anxiously awaiting the return of football — and normalcy — to Blacksburg. A tear trickled down my face during the emotional pre-game ceremony. I didn't quite understand why.
A few months later, my older brother was offered admission at Virginia Tech. He said yes.
I followed suit exactly four years later. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, we had become a Hokie family. If you were to visit our Fairfax house today, you'd find a Virginia Tech flag flying outside and a miniature schnauzer with an orange and maroon collar hanging around his neck.
And if you were to visit my Blacksburg apartment today, you'd find me — now 21 years young — just trying to get through the day without shedding too many tears. I understand why I'm crying now.
This town, this school, this community, it means so much to Hokies, past and present. It's difficult to quantify, nearly impossible to explain why our feelings run so deep for a place where we spend such a brief period of our lives.
In the days following April 16, 2007, Fowler eloquently described what makes this place so special.
"There is a collective strength of spirit there that feels quite different from other campuses we visit. It's a big school, of about 26,000. But it feels like a tight community," Fowler wrote. "It's not a curriculum or a setting for everyone. But most students who are there want to be nowhere else. That spirit seems to endure long after leaving Blacksburg. Once a Hokie, always a Hokie."
That overwhelming sense of unity is what makes April 16 so difficult. Blacksburg isn't just another college town to us. It's home. And when tragedy strikes, we take it harder than anyone. And we should.
This place will never be fully whole again, the memorial outside Burruss Hall serving as a painful reminder that we continue on without 32 of our fellow Hokies. But we must continue on.
That's why we now go to class on April 16. We move forward, determined to soldier into the future with heavy hearts, refusing to let one troubled soul tear apart the place that we hold so dear.
It's not easy. It probably never will be. Professors will choke up mid-lecture. Students will wipe away tears as they traverse silently across the drillfield. Alumni will reconnect with old friends, desperate to reminisce on their time in Blacksburg and remember lives lost.
That's how we choose to honor Liviu Lebrescu, a beloved Engineering professor who died on that fateful morning protecting his students. That's how we choose to honor Ryan Clark, a fun-loving Marching Virginian and Resident Advisor known to his friends as "Stack."
That's how we choose to honor Mary Read, Erin Peterson, and G.V. Loganathan. That's how we choose to honor Brian Bluhm, Christopher Bishop, and Reema Samaha. That's how we choose to honor all of our fallen Hokies.
And it's fitting, really. As we sit here today, nearly 10 years later, those names still matter. And they'll always matter. Each passing day we move farther away from this unspeakable tragedy, but memories will remain forever.
They were our friends, our classmates, our professors.
They were Hokies.
Comments
Well said. As someone living out of state, it is comforting to be reminded family is there, even if they are not with you.
Beautifully written Joey.
...........................................................................
I still don't have the words.
This is beautiful, Joey. Well done and thank you. It expresses many of the same things I think every year when this date rolls around.
Just moved into our new house in SC in 2007. Saw this on the news waiting in line at Time Warner because our brand new cable box had already quit in one weekend. Had we not gone in to get it replaced, may not have even have found out about the shooting for days (no iPhone back then).
Great article. Tears always come on this day.
neVer forgeT
GO HOKIES!
Well said. I was in the third grade and we had a snow day. Living in West Virginia, VT was never very popular. That entire week, my entire elementary school turned into Hokies. Our school had "twin day" the Friday after, where everyone was encouraged to dress up in the same Hokie memorabilia with a friend. It had its own page in the yearbook. An entire elementary school in West Virginia wearing Hokie stuff.
My prayers continue to go out to the victims' families, and we continue to prevail every day.
The last time I was in Blacksburg was Labor Day, for the Ohio State game. I had bought a ticket as a birthday present for myself (my birthday is September 7th), and made a rushed, and stressful trip to get there before the game after attending a wedding the day before. The day after the game, I was obviously a little deflated after the loss, alone, and on some level feeling sorry for myself for having a birthday pass with so little to celebrate. I spent some time walking around campus and stopped by the memorial. I think this would've struck me as powerful on any day, but in the context of the aforementioned thoughts and emotions I was experiencing, it shook me to my core. And it's just an awesome gesture and instantly made me proud to be a Hokie. Never Forget.
I saw that also, I also saw one on another persons memorial another game day. It's amazing that some person does this for every birthday.
Welp, I'm crying now. And the article is beautifully written, Joey.
Beautiful. I can't help but cry every year. I love all of you men and women of Hokie Nation.
Man I'm sitting here in VA beach with a group of friends who don't understand how much it means to be a hokie trying to keep my composure
Who started cutting onions in my house right now...neVer forgeT
My wife and I met on April 16, 2000. When we decided to get married in 2007, we wanted to do so on our anniversary. We decided to be married in St Lucia and when we asked for that date, it wasn't available at the resort. The closest date we could get was April 7th. We had just returned to the 757 when the event took place. Her daughter was here getting her Masters and her son-in-law was working at the CRC (both had graduated from VT). The following year we relocated here as she took a position in University Relations. We today are happy that the kids were safe that day & we are happy that our anniversary is not tied to that date. But somehow we can't escape the sadness of it each year because we were and are still indirectly a part of it. neVer forgeT.
Weird, I got married April 7, 2007 as well (although, my wedding in Crystal City was probably not as bad ass as your tropical one). Had just gotten back from an abbreviated honeymoon and was at work on the day. I was essentially useless after the news broke. I can't believe it's been nine years, it still feels like it just happened.
Was thinking the exact same thing. Can't believe its been that long. Ill never forget how desolate and somber the campus was that day, a really frightening image. I still get so mad when I start thinking about it. Siiigh. What a punk.
I just flew back from Columbus, OH this afternoon. Saw one Hokie on Ohio State's campus (easy to spot on the day of their spring game), and one was on my plane from Detroit back to Raleigh.
Glad to see that Hokies everywhere neVer forgeT.
Didn't leave the house today, just home doing chores. But made sure to put on a VT shirt this morning, and will do so every April 16 forever.
I did the annual 3.2 for 32 run today. I have missed it twice since they have been doing it. Haven't taken off my remembrance shirt yet even when doing chores around the house.
As for that date, I was home sick from work. Watched it on the news and told myself I can't take anymore sick days.
The gameday for ecu was not only my freshman year, but my 1st game in lane. Will never forget the emotion and strength from that day, from the tailgating to the game crowd, and following. Everyday I am happy to be a hokie.
I won't ever forget that game opening as long as long as I live.
I was finishing my senior semester an student teaching in Roanoke that day. I can say that was the worst drive of my life watching ambulances going back to Blacksburg while I drove to Roanoke that morning.
I will never forget the love and sympathy those students gave me that day, they knew where my heart was. They knew it was in a million pieces. Damn it, now somebody started cutting onions in my house.
Something that I didn't know until weeks afterwards was that my younger sister had to watch the media coverage all day in high school without knowing how I was doing. Some insensitive guy said something to the effect of "who cares?" and my sister apparently roared, "My brother goes there!" and proceeded to punch him in the face.
Don't think I've ever been so proud of her.
I'm sitting in Madrid Airport, and now fighting back tears. Aside from my mom, I don't talk about that day much as it hurts as much today as ever. But I could not be prouder to be a member of this Hokie family. I can't wait to be in Blacksburg on Saturday, my home forever!
It was also appreciated how other schools stood with us.
Those lost will not be forgotten.
Definitely. Some things transcend sports rivalries.
Cadet La Porte was honored by the USAF for his actions. Ut Prosim (link)
I walked the stones today and one of them was so sad. A little note was in front that read something along these lines:
Has it really been 9 years? The time pasted feels like a lifetime ago and at the same time no time at all. Here I am again, bringing flowers when I shouldn't have to, when someone should be bringing them to you in person.
I don't remember it exactly, but it really touched me.
Of all places, I was a salesman then In Charlottesville and stopped in at BW3 to watch news coverage, noticing how many UVA students were there watching too...emotional and concerned for friends and former HS classmates
When I was at VT you could not get 35,000 people to a football game. The day of the shooting my thoughts:
1. Really no way
2. So relieved that my daughter graduated the previous year.
3. The son of a bitch shot up my school and students
4. Sorry that the said SOB killed himself.
It still saddens me to this day. See the link below. A concert by Carbon Leaf to collect money for those stricken. BTW I spent too much time on this roof....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUxp63OTyog
I was in Randolph when it happened. I didn't hear anything, I didn't know what was going on. I lost a good acquaintance that day, my friends lost friends. I'm not going to claim I lost close friends that day, or that I cry every year, because that would be an insulting falsehood. What I will say, is every year, on April 16th, my mood becomes a little more somber, my mind flickers back to Virginia Tech, and I try to remember those that were taken.
I was at a food expo yesterday, and a guy in VT shorts and a shirt looked at me with my VT hat, and just nodded. I don't know of any school where the alumni consistently choose to start random conversations with each other, or just a simple "hokie hi". That's something to be proud of.