Tragedy at Virginia Tech

It has been a sad week. I came home Monday morning after class, turned on the TV, and saw the absolute horror of what occurred at Virginia Tech. I ended up doing exactly what I did on 9/11 - I just watched. I couldn't say anything, I really couldn't feel anything at that time. I just sat there and watched the day as it unfolded. I eventually went to class, and mentioned it to a few friends. But then I came home and just started watching again. At the end of the day, as I went to bed, I thought about what I had seen. The next morning, two main emotions came to me that I have been feeling the rest of the week.

I first felt heavyhearted when I woke up that morning. I remember feeling sad on 9/11. When I woke that morning, I tuned in to my favorite morning radio show. As I got ready for school, I heard them talking about it. At first I thought it was a joke, maybe a new movie coming out. Intrigued I turned on the TV and saw the reality. It was all we talked about that day in classes. But now there is a big difference between my feelings that day and those of this week. What I felt on 9/11 was just a general feeling of shock and sadness like the rest of the nation. But this time, it is a much deeper sadness within me, mostly because I am connected a great deal more to the events in Blacksburg than to the ones in NYC. I am a college student now. I walk through campus every day just like those students did. As I walked to class Tuesday morning, I couldn't help but to look around my campus and image what that would have been like here. The sadness just stuck me so much harder. And then I started to think about all those young men and women that died, and the last things they might have said to their friends or parents. I called my mom tonight and told her I loved her, and thanked her for all the help she has given me these past few years.

The second emotion I have felt all week is one of amazement. I am amazed at how the students at Virginia Tech, at schools around the nation, and the world have come together in a time like this. Facebook as become a source of grieving, counseling, and connection for everyone. Monday night I immediately found three Facebook groups to join. One is now the largest tribute group to VT, with over 282,000 members. There is a VT logo that holds within it the logos of schools across the nation. Another group is the largest group here at my school. I followed the likes of others that had taken the VT logo atop a black ribbon, and placed their own school's logo underneath it. I made one for my school, and it became the picture for the group. The final group is one that calls for Facebook to change its website colors to orange and maroon. I believe that if little steps like that can truly help heel even one person, that Facebook should do it. I have just been absolutely amazed at the use of the Internet to deal with these events.

I am thankful for every opportunity that I have gotten in life. I am also thankful that something like this hasn't happened directly in my life yet. I will be praying for a long time for all those affected by that tragic Monday morning. I am certainly going to take something away from this. I don't know what yet, but it might even be that I try a little harder in school. Those 32 students that died don't get to go to college anymore.

There is one last thing I want to leave her. J. Russell Denney, one of the admins of the VT tribute group on Facebook, said

"Forget any and all college affiliations today. For today, we are all Hokies."

God Bless.

New Endeavors

In the past several months, I have found myself in new territory. I guess it started when I applied to become one of the managers of a basketball tournament that my sports business club puts on. I have been involved in this project for two years now, but only as a volunteer. When the time came to find new members to help run the event, it did come to mind to just volunteer again and not step up. But something inside me said "no."

So this time, I stepped up. I was appointed one of the manager spots, for operations. For most of my life I have been used to the one being behind the scenes, making things happen. So I did take advantage of that strength and got this position. I will be the one to coordinate volunteers, to make sure our event runs smooth. This was my first step into new territory.

My second step came from a business class I just finished taking last term, a class that every business student must take. The class focuses around business communication and leadership, using a group project as the primary application of its lessons. The sections of this class in the term were special in fact. Our projects had to address how to use $800,000 of over-realized funds that student government had. Although our grades did not depend on whether the appointed representative from the student government approved our project or not, it still could have gotten support and given to the appropriate committees and senate for approval.

My group's project dealt with sustainability, specifically water conservation. Now, I won't go in detail about our project and give you the full spiel. But let's just say the teacher loved it and the student government representative loved it. To get that point, however, I had to stand in front of the class and give part of the presentation. I hate that. That is why I prefer to work behind the scenes as I said earlier. So I pulled myself together, focused, and with the others in my group doing the same, gave a great speech. To get such high remarks was a surprise to me.

Then we learned that our project was one of the 35 "semi-finalists", if you will, that got sponsored by a member of the appropriations committee. Again I was surprised because I was the only one in our group that got in front of the committee, after the class, and gave another quick pitch about our idea. Now, the term was over, and our group did not have to work together anymore. But I felt we should still advocate for our proposal, and they seemed to agree. There was going to be a town hall meeting to talk about these 35 proposals, and choose which ones to bring before the senate. But then I read in the student newspaper that our proposal did not make it into either of the two suggested packages, one of which could have been chosen to take to the senate.

At first I was disappointed, but I still wanted to go to this meeting and try to find out why. Turns out I was alone in this one. None of my group members showed up, and neither did our official partners in the project. So I crossed that boundary again and took that step into new territory. Never before had I made such a impromptu speech that carried such importance. I was a little nervous, and tried the best I could. There is still a chance for a proposal to make it to the senate vote. I am glad I took that step.

And now I find myself here, taking another step. I decided to start this blog after reading an article in the Wall Street Journal recently that said blogs are starting to help professional get new career opportunities. I have also received multiple times, the advice to differentiate myself from all the others out there looking for a job, or trying to get ahead. Now I am still in school, and will be for a few more years. I am not using this blog to sell myself, or to get a job. I simply felt this was the best way to differentiate myself. In future posts I hope to write about not only my life in school, but also business, sports, technology, and any combination of the four that interests me - essentially my life. I am in new territory here. I could turn around and go back, but I think I am going to press on.