To the Hokies

Since Virginia Tech is such an active school on CH, I thought that this would be a good way to communicate my personal feelings. No humor here.

It has been more than a week since the tragic events at Virginia Tech. I will not say that I know what they are going through because I know how much that used to piss me off when people would say that to me and my community. To the Hokies, no one can tell you that they went through the same thing and can relate to you. I do have some incite though as far as the coming years which your community of Blacksburg may go through. The media was, from all accounts, helpful during the crisis but they will, if they haven’t already, begin to bother you. They will pry and poke their nose where none of you would like them to. They will stop appearing to be genuine and care about the tragedy which has hurt you, your family and your community. Instead, it will become apparent that they just want to continue dragging the story out in order to grab ratings and do interest pieces. It has been 8 years now and still, media crews drop by the parking lots surrounding Columbine High School and Blacksburg can expect the same. I, myself, have told my share of members of the press to “Fuck off” “leave us alone” and even more middle digits than I care to remember.

Furthermore, the part that few people realize, are the tourists. The chances are that the Virginia tech campus will become a top tourist destination for gawkers, church retreats and sick people. Understand that people feel the need to “experience” tragedy for themselves. Though this can be very bothersome, just know that this is a part of the fact that your name will, for some time, be famous for something other than higher education. I used to feel the same way about these people as I did about the media. That was until I discussed it with my, and most every Columbine student’s, favorite teacher, Mr. Tonelli. I was talking with him when I was a sophomore when a van of people rolled into the student parking lot and asked him if they could get into the school. My initial reaction was to tell these gawkers to get the fuck out of the parking lot and proceed back to their residence up their own rectums. I held off and left it to “T” as we all called him. He said “absolutely” and proceeded to take them on a tour of the school, giving them all of the details about what happened and where. Afterwards, I asked him why he did it. He said that in order to show your own strength, your community’s strength and the greatness with which it takes a soul to live through and survive something so tragic, you must tell the people who desire to hear it. They wanted to feel our pain and feel the strength of our character and we should not deny that by closing ourselves off. This was all too influential to my years in high school and all the years afterwards. This is why I will never deny someone who wants to hear about me and my life after finding out that I am a proud Columbine Rebel.

Finally, don’t fight amongst yourselves. This occurred at Columbine in the years following and, in some ways, it still does. You may have been on the second floor of the building during the shooting, you may have had friends or professors killed, you may have not known anyone harmed, and you may have been nowhere near the shooting. You are all Hokies just as we are all Rebels. You all feel the same pain and you must remember this. Lean on one another. Don’t seclude yourself as someone who experienced it and no one could ever know your pain. There are thousands that feel your pain and they are all around you in Blacksburg. Love them as you love those who you have lost and never ever forget that. When the freshmen class comes in the fall, don’t forget that they are there for you too. They may not have been there but they are showing fantastic support by volunteering to join your scarred but still thriving community. Love them as well for they will be the ones who tell your stories of strength when you leave Blacksburg.

Thank you for your strength, thank you Virginia Tech.

-Ryan Kluever