Choose One

It’s been about a week since the senseless tragedy at my graduate school alma mater Virginia Tech and we have now had time to move past the initial shock of the event and begin to grieve. As is seemingly the norm for modern America we have, in incredibly rapid succession, gone from seeing a horrible tragedy unfold, live on our television sets, to learning the minutest details of a mentally disturbed young man, to learning about incredible acts of heroism, to the heart-wrenching stories of those we have lost, to the sharing of pain and sorrow. Driven by our multimedia culture we move faster and faster through the collective process; perhaps we are simply too well-versed in the morbid steps of such a public tragedy.

Regardless, our lives will go on, and this is a good thing, because life will go on. While the images and emotions of that fateful day seem seared into our collective conscience now, our own lives with all of the demands of the modern world will cause them to fade, quicker than we might think, into the background to a small place in the back of our memories. We pledge not to forget, but we will. Intuitively, I think we all know this, and because of this we all try to cling to one thing that will sooth our soul and make us feel as if we won’t forget what happened. It would seem that the date "04-16-07" is that one thing; but dates lack a soul and that icon is destined to be coupled with an even larger American tragedy.

We would struggle with remembering so many names over time and, unfortunately, the name we will probably always remember will be that of the man we should all do our best to forget. For this reason I ask all of you, the Hokie Nation and those who are touched by our tragedy, to choose one name; to choose one of the thirty-two lives lost to remember. Who that person should be I leave to you, but I ask that once you choose that person make a commitment to learn all that you can about them. Study their picture to remember their smile. Learn about their passions, their accomplishments and their dreams and wishes. Learn everything you can so no matter how much time passes at least a little bit of that person will remain with you. Perhaps, after many years, the name will be all that is left; but it will be a name worthy of remembrance.

Let us all collective lift up upon our shoulders our individual choices and carry them with us so that they may, through us, live the rest of the life they will never know. Every time you don the Orange and Maroon, think of them. Every time you meet up with fellow alum think of them. Every time you meet a friend who went to Virginia Tech, think of them. Every time you see "VT" or the Hokie Bird, think of them. Every time you jump up and down as "Enter Sandman" plays and our team takes the field of play; let them whisper in your ear, "Go Hokies", and think of them. Let us carry them forward so we forget the one name we should and remember more than just a date.

Choose one.