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April 16th, Nine Years Later

April 15, 2016 By Kate 1 Comment

I originally published this post last year on the eighth anniversary of the tragedy. I wanted to write a new tribute this year, but the words just weren’t coming. And I think this post from last year says everything that needs to be said.

On April 16, 2007, a gunman killed 32 students and professors at Virginia Tech before taking his own life. 17 other students and professors were wounded. April 16th is the largest, deadliest school massacre by a single gunman in American history.

Today marks nine years since April 16, 2007. On that day, I was a mere freshman in high school and my knowledge of Virginia Tech didn’t extend much farther than their football and basketball teams. I came home from school and saw my mom sitting on our couch, with our cat Buttons curled up next to her. Her face was somber and her eyes were fixed on the television. I joined her and we sat in silence as we watched the news reports.

Every year on April 16th, I think about that day, about how I thought, How could someone do something so awful, so devastating? I think about the uneasiness in my stomach as I watched footage of students running from Norris Hall. I think about the families who lost their loved ones that day: sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, cousins, friends. I think of those who sacrificed their lives to save those of others. I think about the survivors, and the brave young men and women who protected their classmates and still make their voices heard today.

Every year on April 16th, I think of the first time my family visited Virginia Tech, in the fall of my sophomore year of high school. We were there for a UNC football game, since Chapel Hill was too far to drive from Pennsylvania just for a weekend. When we couldn’t find our way to Lane–although now looking back, it seems silly that we couldn’t–several Hokies kindly offered their help, even though we weren’t wearing maroon and orange, and guided us to their football stadium. They made the visiting team and fans feel just as welcome as their own.

Every year on April 16th, I think of my first tour as an accepted student, and walking by the memorial on the Drillfield, and seeing those Hokie Stone headstones. That was inspired by an impromptu memorial by some students who, in the days following the tragedy, picked out 32 pieces of Hokie Stone from campus construction and laid them in a semicircle at the top of the Drillfield. Later, a stone bench honoring the survivors was added.

Every year on April 16th, I think of Nikki Giovanni’s immortal words, “We will prevail, we will prevail, we will prevail, we are Virginia Tech.” I think of how many cars I’ve seen with those words on a ribbon-shaped magnet, and how to us, it’s not just a magnet.

Every year on April 16th, I think of the candlelight vigil my freshman year, and how I didn’t know what it would be like, and I didn’t know how many students who were there in 2007 were still there then. I didn’t know how many people would cry. I didn’t know if I would cry. And when I think of those things, I hear 32 rounds of “Let’s go…Hokies!” and a chorus of “Fields of Gold,” and I see the candlelight slowly spreading among thousands of students, families, and Blacksburg locals as we honor those 32 fallen Hokies.

Every year on April 16th, I think of the 3.2 Run in Remembrance and watching 32 white balloons float effortlessly into the sky, followed by hundreds of maroon and orange balloons.

Every year on April 16th, I think of December 8, 2011, when Officer Deriek W. Crouse died in the line of duty when a routine traffic stop on campus went wrong. I think of having lunch in the student center with my friend Ben when campus went on lockdown, and how we were herded into Colonial Hall with hundreds of other terrified students when the SWAT teams and National Guard thought the shooter was closing in on Squires, and how, through all the chaos, I heard someone mutter, “Not again…” I think of sitting in a lecture hall and gripping Ben’s hand and praying and praying and praying. I think of how we organized a candlelight vigil the following night, and how we raised more than $100,000 in mere days for the Crouse family.

Today on April 16th, I think about going back to Blacksburg in September 2014 for a football game and walking by the memorial on the Drillfield before meeting a friend to tailgate. I think of how it took me graduating and being an alumna to bring me to tears at that memorial and seeing those headstones with flowers and notes held down by rocks and pebbles.

Today on April 16th, I remember those 32 Hokies up in Heaven, who I’m sure smile and tell every angel about Blacksburg and the Drillfield and the pylons and Lane Stadium and the Corps of Cadets and the duck pond and have no problems answering, “So, what exactly is a Hokie?” a thousand times. They probably answer it much better than I can.

vt 3.2 run for 32 — Photo via Virginia Tech

Today on April 16th, I think of how I’ve never felt anything but safe and at home at Virginia Tech, in Blacksburg, Virginia. I think of how everyone I ever met there was warm, welcoming, friendly, and always ended our conversations with “Go Hokies!” I think of how “Hokie Nation” isn’t just a thing we say or a slogan we put on t-shirts or a hashtag we use on Twitter. We are a worldwide community, a family, a forever friendship of thousands who actually think maroon and orange look good together.

Today on April 16th, I think of a conversation I had with my mom once, and how she said, “We were always so impressed by how friendly everyone at Tech is, and their willingness to help anyone and everyone. I bet those 32 were the same way.” I’m sure they were. They were Hokies, after all.

Today, on April 16th, 2016, on every April 16th and every day forevermore, I think of how proud I am to be a Hokie and how there’s no other place I’d rather call my alma mater. I think of Brotherhood, Service, Loyalty, Honor, Leadership, Sacrifice, Duty and Ut Prosim.

We will prevail, we will prevail, we will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

Every Year on April 16th

April 16, 2015 By Kate Leave a Comment

Today marks eight years since April 16, 2007. On that day, I was a mere freshman in high school and my knowledge of Virginia Tech didn’t extend much farther than their football and basketball teams. I came home from school and saw my mom sitting on our couch, with our cat Buttons curled up next to her. Her face was somber and her eyes were fixed on the television. I joined her and we sat in silence as we watched the news reports. Every year on April 16th, I think about that day, about how I thought, How could someone do something like that? Something so awful, so devastating? I think about the uneasiness in my stomach as I watched footage of students running from Norris Hall. I think about the families who lost their loved ones that day: sons, daughters, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, friends. I think of those who sacrificed their lives to save those of others. I think about the survivors, and the brave young men and women who protected their classmates and still make their voices heard today. Every year on April 16th, I think of the first time my family visited Virginia Tech, in the fall of my sophomore year of high school. We were there for a UNC football game, since Chapel Hill was too far to drive from Pennsylvania just for a weekend. When we couldn’t find our way to Lane–although now looking back, it seems silly that we couldn’t–several Hokies kindly offered their help, even though we weren’t wearing maroon and orange, and guided us to their football stadium. They made the visiting team and fans feel just as welcome as their own.
Every year on April 16th, I think of my first tour as an accepted student, and walking by the memorial on the Drillfield, and seeing those Hokie Stone headstones. That was inspired by an impromptu memorial by some students who, in the days following the tragedy, picked out 32 pieces of Hokie Stone from campus construction and laid them in a semicircle at the top of the Drillfield. Later, a stone bench honoring the survivors was added.

Every year on April 16th, I think of telling people that’s where I was going to college, and how many people would cock their heads and say, “Isn’t that where…?” and their voices would trail off, and we both knew exactly what was coming next. And I would say, “Yes. And it’s the best place on Earth.”

Every year on April 16th, I think of the candlelight vigil my freshman year, and how I didn’t know what it would be like, and I didn’t know how many students who were there in 2007 were still there then. I didn’t know how many people would cry. I didn’t know if I would cry. And when I think of those things, I hear a chorus of 32 rounds of “Let’s go…Hokies!” and an a capella group singing “Fields of Gold,” and I see the candlelight slowly spreading among thousands of students, families, and Blacksburg locals as we honor those 32 fallen Hokies. I think of April 16, 2012, the fifth anniversary of the tragedy, and how that was the last year we had an organized candlelight vigil.

Every year on April 16th, I think of the 3.2 Run in Remembrance and watching 32 white balloons float effortlessly into the sky, followed by hundreds of maroon and orange balloons.

I don’t know who took this picture, but it wasn’t me, and I found it on my computer. Worth sharing anyway.

Every year on April 16th, I think of December 8, 2011, when Officer Deriek W. Crouse died in the line of duty when a routine traffic stop on campus went wrong. I think of having lunch in Squires, the student center, with my friend Ben when campus went on lockdown, and how we were herded into Colonial Hall with hundreds of other terrified students when the SWAT teams and National Guard thought the shooter was closing in on Squires, and how, through all the chaos, I heard someone mutter, “Not again…” I think of sitting in Colonial and gripping Ben’s hand and praying and praying and praying. I think of how we organized a candlelight vigil the following night, and how we raised more than $100,000 in mere days for the Crouse family.

Today on April 16th, I think about going back to Blacksburg in September for a football game and walking by the memorial on the Drillfield before meeting a friend to tailgate. I think of how it took me graduating and being an alumna to bring me to tears at that memorial and seeing those headstones with flowers and notes held down by rocks and pebbles.

Today, on April 16th, 2015, on every April 16th and every day forevermore, I think of how proud I am to be a Hokie and how there’s no other place I’d rather call my alma mater. I think of Brotherhood, Service, Loyalty, Honor, Leadership, Sacrifice, Duty and Ut Prosim.

We will prevail, we will prevail, we will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.

Football Friday – What It’s Like Not Being at VT for Football Season

August 22, 2014 By Kate 8 Comments

Happy Friday, y’all! I’m doing a new link-up today: Football Friday hosted by Erin over at Love, Fun & Football. This is exciting.

As many of y’all know (and if you don’t, then you’ll find out now), I am a Hokie. I went to almost every home game during my four years at VT (except for three my freshman year, curse the student ticket lottery) and really developed a passion for Hokie football. It’s kind of hard not to love football at a place like VT.

Now I’m not at VT anymore, so I’m not immersed in Blacksburg’s football culture every weekend. It already feels different, and kickoff isn’t for another eight days. I visited Blacksburg last weekend, and naturally I drove through campus before I went to Kevin’s apartment. When I turned onto Spring Road to drive by Lane, “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)” by Green Day started playing on my radio.

I cried. No biggie.

Many of my friends moved back to Blacksburg this weekend and have been posting about how excited they are for a new year, and how pumped they are to be back in Lane Stadium for football. And it feels very different to not be there, too. It’s like something is missing.

To my friends who will be there, especially my senior friends:

Tailgate every weekend. If you don’t host one, join up with your friends. It’s fantastic.

Jump to “Enter, Sandman” like your life depends on it. Make Blacksburg register on the Richter scale again.

Bring a rain jacket or something water-resistant for the White-Out game. It rained every single White-Out game in my four years. It just happens.

Scream and yell so loud that you lose your voice at least once during the season. Lane is prided as being one of the loudest college football venues, and as having one of the best home-field advantages in the country. Make sure it keeps that reputation. Your voice will come back a couple days later with cough drops and tea (trust me, I’ve done this one before).

And please, for the love of the Hokie Bird, please stay for the entire game. The team needs you there to cheer and jump around and shake your keys. It keeps them going.

I’m aiming to make it to at least one game this season. It might not be until late in the season, but I swear on Frank that I’ll be there for at least one. I can’t go an entire season without the Lane experience.

Eight days. Go Hokies.

VT Graduation: Coming Full Circle

May 20, 2014 By Kate 2 Comments

College graduation is a time for nostalgia and reminiscing. I first set foot on Virginia Tech’s campus in September of 2007, my sophomore year of high school. My family came to Blacksburg to see the Carolina Tar Heels–my parents’ alma mater and my at-the-time dream school–play the Hokies. Since Chapel Hill is a long trip from where we live in PA, we thought coming to Blacksburg would be more convenient.

We booked the trip through the Carolina Alumni Association, so we stayed outside of Blacksburg and came in on a bus with other UNC alumni. The bus dropped us off on the Alumni Mall side of Squires Student Center, and we walked from there to Lane.

Last weekend, when I walked out of my third and final graduation–the English department ceremony–I stepped out onto the (almost) exact same place where I first stepped nearly seven years ago.

Started from the bottom, now I’m here?

Graduation weekend was an absolute whirlwind; it hasn’t quite hit me that it all really happened. I remember sitting in Lane Stadium and listening to President Steger address me as a “student” for the last time as he conferred our degrees. I remember Dr. Denton handing me my diploma at the communication department ceremony in Cassell Coliseum. I remember Dr. Eska calling my name at the English ceremony. It’ll come sooner or later, I’m sure. Regardless, I am so proud to call myself a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. There’s nowhere else I’d rather have spent the last four years. I will forever call myself a Hokie and I am forever proud to be a member of the Hokie Nation. I am thankful for my friends and family that supported me throughout the process, and who were there to celebrate with me last weekend.

Roomies!

Love you, Lee!

The comm kids.

My favorites!

I finished summa cum laude with a double major in communication and English. I can’t wait to frame my diploma and display it proudly.

Friday night, I celebrated with Kevin (who was awesome and stayed in town all weekend until the minute I left my apartment for good), my parents, and my grandparents on my mom’s side. We had a lovely dinner at The Mansion at Fort Chiswell. Saturday, my family (minus grandparents, plus Kevin) celebrated with Jordan and her family at Beliveau Estate & Winery. We had a wonderful evening tasting and drinking wine, eating delicious food, and blowing bubbles.

Next stop? Eastern Europe for two weeks. After that, I’m moving to Elon in late July. This summer is going to fly by, and I’m ready for it. Bring it on!
Happy summer and congrats to all the grads!

4/16: Seven Years Past

April 16, 2014 By Kate 1 Comment

Every year I find it more and more difficult to find proper words for this day. But today, I’m going to try.

Seven years ago today, 32 innocent lives were taken in the deadliest school shooting in American history. I was a freshman in high school on April 16, 2007. I came home to my mom sitting on our couch with the news on. I sat and watched with her and wondered why anyone would ever do something like that. I still ask myself that today.

Nearly three years later, I received my acceptance email from Virginia Tech, and the next day–February 19, 2010–I decided to be a Hokie. It was the best decision I ever made.

In the spring of my freshman year at Tech, I attended the candlelight vigil on the drill field with a group of my friends. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how many people would cry. I didn’t know how many people who were here on that day in 2007 were still here as students. I didn’t know if any of my friends would cry. I definitely did not expect the chills I got when the a capella group sang “Fields of Gold” as the candle-lighting part of the vigil happened. And I most definitely did not expect to almost cry myself when the ceremony ended with 32 rounds of, “Let go…Hokies!” Sure, we do that at football games and it’s an experience like no other, but that one was different in a way that I can’t properly express in words.

And I definitely did not expect to accidentally light my friend Sara’s hair on fire with a candle. But no damage was done; she still had a full head of curly black hair.

On Dec. 10, 2011, Officer Deriek Crouse was killed in the line of duty during a routine traffic stop that went awry. The next day, Tech students and the Blacksburg community held a vigil in honor of Officer Crouse and in support of his family. We also started a charity called Hokies for Crouse that raised over $100,000 for the Crouse family. Hokie strong? Absolutely.

April 16, 2012–my sophomore year–marked five years. My junior year (2013), the vigils stopped. At first I didn’t understand why they would discontinue such an event that drew thousands of students and community members. We came together in that time to remind one another of the love and support of Hokie Nation and that we will always be one family. If I remember correctly, a news release stated that it was time to move on, and so there would be no more organized vigils unless students did one themselves.

Now comes the part where I start to fumble. I always fear that my words are insufficient and I’m not saying what needs to be said, or what should be said, or if I’m even the right person to be saying this.

I had seen and heard “Live for 32” and “Never Forget” when I’d visited Tech before becoming a student, but I did not fully understand the gravity of those statements until I became a Hokie myself. I did not understand until someone at home made a snide comment to me about how I should “be careful there, and don’t get shot.” In that moment, as angry as I was, I had never been prouder to go to such a wonderful school, to be part of such a strong, loving family, and to be a Hokie.

I was just chatting with my mom a bit ago. I told her I was writing this post, and I said I’m afraid I don’t have the right words for it. She said, “We were always so impressed by how friendly everyone at Tech is, and their willingness to help anyone and everyone. I bet those 32 were the same way.”

My response? “I’m sure they were. They were Hokies, after all.”

So today and every day forward, I live for those 32. Last weekend, I ran for them. I live for Brotherhood, Honor, Leadership, Sacrifice, Service, Loyalty, Duty, and Ut Prosim. I will continue to live for those 32 and those eight values next year at Elon and wherever life takes me after that. I will neVer forgeT and I will always live to be a Hokie.

“We will prevail. We will prevail. We are Virginia Tech.”

Senior Year Bucket List

August 21, 2013 By Kate Leave a Comment

That’s right. Senior year. I can’t believe it, either. Soon, I’ll be applying for grad school and moving yet again, and I’ll have two diplomas in my hand, and…can’t time just slow down? Just a tiny bit? That’d be awesome.

There’s a lot I have experienced in my first three years in Blacksburg: the Cascades, getting caught in the rain/snow unprepared, late-night walks around campus, to name a few. But there’s just as much that I have yet to experience. And I would prefer to leave Blacksburg with those memories instead of leaving them unfulfilled.

Thus, I give y’all my Blacksburg/VT senior year bucket list. Let’s roll.

Hike McAfee Knob — I’ve seen pictures of the view from this place, and have been dying to hike it myself ever since. This stretch of the Appalachian Trail isn’t far from Blacksburg, so there’s really no excuse for me to not make it this year.

Hike Dragon’s Tooth — See above. Completing both or either of these hikes ultimately leads to the next item on this list…

Eat at Homeplace — Located in Catawba, Va., it’s a family-style restaurant that serves up all of your Southern favorites: fried chicken, mashed potatoes, beans, biscuits, mac and cheese, etc. I’d be happy with mac and cheese and sweet tea alone. With all the wonderful things I’ve heard about this place, it’s hard to imagine that I haven’t been there yet.

Go to TOTS — Top of the Stairs, affectionately called TOTS, is Blacksburg’s go-to bar for many. It’s known for RAILS and TOTS Tuesdays, and a crazy good time any day of the weekend. I’m not a huge bar person, or a crowd person, so I’ve strayed from TOTS. But, if a couple of my closest friends have anything to say about it, my time is coming…

P.S. TOTS has been ranked in the nation’s top college-town bars. I guess this really means I gotta get moving on this one.

Participate in a Color Run — Not exactly directly related to VT, but it’s still on my list. 5k runs are fun and generally not super serious, so I don’t have to focus so much on my time.

Participate in the Corps vs. Civilian snowball fight — Snowball fights generally aren’t my thing. Winter generally isn’t my thing, either; I stay inside whenever possible from about December – March. I’ve watched this tradition from afar, but maybe this year I will actually get in on the action and throw a few snowballs. I can survive the cold long enough to launch a few, right?

Attend one match/game for every sports team — Football and basketball are easily done, but there are so many other sports teams I haven’t watched yet, or would like to see more. My friend and I have decided we are going to go to one game or match for every team this year (and blog about them, of course). I’m glad going to athletic events at VT is so easy, and generally convenient.

I’m sure this list will expand as the year goes on, but I’m going to start with these and see where it gets me. I’ll add on and check off as necessary.

Senior year…are you ready?

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