Ten years ago this month, I made one of the best decisions I’ve ever made – I accepted my offer of admission to Virginia Tech. I spent some of the best years of my life there, made amazing friends, and became the person I am today because of it. (And also a bit Hokie obsessed. But can you blame me?)
Five years ago today, the school I love and adore suffered a horrific tragedy. Through this horrible tragedy, we not only grew as a community, but we showed the world just how strong Hokie Nation is.
I ask that you join me today in honoring the 32 students and faculty who lost their lives that day. We all move forward and live to the fullest for the 32 who cannot. If you happen to have any maroon and orange in your wardrobe, I ask that you wear it in their honor today.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are sad today, and we will be sad for quite a while. We are not moving on, we are embracing our mourning.
We are Virginia Tech.
We are strong enough to stand tall tearlessly, we are brave enough to bend to cry, and we are sad enough to know that we must laugh again.
We are Virginia Tech.
We do not understand this tragedy. We know we did nothing to deserve it, but neither does a child in Africa dying of AIDS, neither do the invisible children walking the night away to avoid being captured by the rogue army, neither does the baby elephant watching his community being devastated for ivory, neither does the Mexican child looking for fresh water, neither does the Appalachian infant killed in the middle of the night in his crib in the home his father built with his own hands being run over by a boulder because the land was destabilized. No one deserves a tragedy.
We are Virginia Tech.
The Hokie Nation embraces our own and reaches out with open heart and hands to those who offer their hearts and minds. We are strong, and brave, and innocent, and unafraid. We are better than we think and not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imaginations and the possibilities. We will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears and through all our sadness.
We are the Hokies.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We will prevail.
We are Virginia Tech.
~Nikki Giovanni, Convocation Address, April 17, 2007
neVer forgeT.Livefor32
One Response
Decked out in my orange and maroon and heading to campus soon. So incredibly proud to be a Hokie and a part of this community.