hokie nation

yesterday i was walking into my dorm after breakfast in christiansburg with one of my friends. we heard and saw probably 8 cop cars go flying past, sirens blaring. we had no idea what that was all about, but went into my dorm anyway. as soon as we got into my room, we got the alert for a VT lockdown. there had been shots fired, and a VT cop had been killed. we were on lockdown for five hours, and in that time there was another death. it is believed that it was a murder suicide, and tech is hurting. 

we were so close. my dorm is one of the closest dorms to the scene, and we were outside as it was happening and yet we were so unaware. just like that, two lives were taken. the hardest part was not being with my friends at tech. i needed to feel a sense of community, a sense that i was with the ones i loved. i wanted to be with everyone in a room, praying hard. instead i had to resort to making trips to the bathroom to pray because the one i was with doesn't really support that. 

thank you for everyone who contacted me. everyone who was freaking out because they hadn't heard anything from me because my phone wasn't working. everyone rallied behind tech, and me, and we need that. tragedy hit tech yesterday, but it could happen anywhere, to anyone. our world is so broken, i've just never had such a close-up, first hand experience. but it is broken. i know tech has had more than a fair share of tragedies, but i wouldn't want to be anywhere else. i've never known a school of almost 30,000 students to feel so united, so close. we are a community, and i would never, ever want to be anywhere else. don't worry about our campus, just pray for us. the Lord is at work here, and He will bring the good out from the bad. pray for our ministries, that we may continue to reach more and more students and that the Lord may continue to change our campus in huge ways. He is the God of this city, and He will protect us. 

Deriek W. Crouse, thank you. you served and protected us, and i am praying for your loved ones. thank you so much. 

"From the outside looking in, you can never understand it. From the inside looking out, you can never explain it. Virginia Tech is more than a school.. It's my home and family. Our campus does not deserve this heartbreak. neVer forgeT & pray for Virginia Tech. We will always prevail."

m.