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May 11, 2007 Today was graduation day at Virginia Tech. Today there are students who should have walked up to the podium to receive their diplomas who couldn't. They are dead. Twenty-Seven years ago my cousin graduated from Virginia Tech and became an Environmental Engineer. She walked along the same paths that the students of today walk. She took classes in the same building where Cho brought forth his blood bath and ended 32 promising and valuable lives. My cousin went to school in a safer time and when she did, most of us had no idea what the future would bring . I never even thought about one of my fellow students showing up on campus with a gun. I never even imagined that innocent children would be killed and maimed as a result of their own peers carrying deadly weapons to school with the sole purpose of wiping out as many people as possible. I never imagined that anyone would load and reload guns until hundreds of rounds of ammunition were spent and bodies were strewn all over the place in what should have been one of the safest environments that a child should ever know. What I didn't know about and what my cousin didn't know about back then was a blessing because we couldn't have moved forward knowing what was to come. For the families of the victims of these mad rampages there are no blessings...only memories of the beautiful and talented children that they send to school with the hopes and dreams that most parents have for their futures. I am writing this to once again send my hopes and my prayers to all of the students who are not only graduating today and in the coming weeks but to all the children who will one day walk the halls of any school in our country. I am hoping that they are safe and that they are allowed to live out their destinies. I am also hoping that parents, teachers and others who hold the precious lives of our children in their hands will be more vigilant in spotting those who are festering from hatred and waiting for the opportunity to inflict as much pain as possible on the innocent people around them. This message is aimed at people like Cho's parents who KNEW that their son was abnormal and anti-social and did absolutely nothing to get to the root of his OBVIOUS problems. When they took their boy for a haircut and the barber asked how he'd like his hair cut he refused to reply...his father had to prompt him to answer. He remained silent. He remained silent until that day when he opened fire. Bullets spoke in place of words. They KNEW and they did nothing and as a result, some young people could not accept their diplomas today and others are scarred for life both physically and mentally. My wish is that those brave young people who walked up to shake the hand of the Dean at Virginia Tech took with them more than a piece of paper....that they took with them the knowledge that they showed tremendous spirit for staying on that bloody campus for a month until that final moment when they graduated or watched their friends graduate. They were given the choice to remain or go home.....their absence would not be held against them. They chose to stay and they chose to honor their fallen friends with their presence. Congratulations to all of our graduates and especially to those who were at Virginia Tech. I hope that they know that many of us are celebrating their accomplishments with them in spirit and that we praise them for their courage and wish them well in their future. In the end, Cho killed 32 students and teachers, but he could not kill the spirit of those who remained behind and no one like him ever will. ------------ About the author: Meri has a Medical/Legal background and is a former forensic researcher specializing in psychological profiling. https://www2.xlibris.com/bookstore/bookdisplay.asp?bookid=27335 Email: writers2@cox.net Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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