Okay, I kinda wanted to do a memorial peice here... It's been a year since the shootings at Virginia Tech. As you all know, there were a total of 33 deaths, including the shooter.

I know A LOT of people who go to VTech... its the school most kids go to from my high school. During the shooting, however. There were no Woodson fatalities; I was happy to hear that none of the people I know were hurt. (There was one girl from my school, though... she was one of four people in her German class who escaped unscathed... she was all over the news, if you recall... Erin Sheenan, the bald girl. I remember her. She has an LJ.)

However, a lot of schools in my area were affected by the attacks. Westfield High lost three alumni, including the shooter, Cho-Seung He. It's scary to know he lived only five miles away from me. Out of all thirty-three, however, there was one person I knew.

Mary Karen Read went to Annandale High School, less that two miles away from mine. She played carinet at Annandale, and was also on their winterguard squad for four years. This is how I met her. We were in All-District band together, and we saw each other at winterguard competitions. I didn't know her really well. She was friends with someone on Woodson's winterguard and I spoke to her a couple of times. I know I wasn't her best friend or anything, but I still feel upset whenever I think about her. She was in her French class at Norris Hall on April 16th, 2007. She died in room 211, along with ten other classmates and her professor. It was the room where Cho Seung-He later killed himself.

I barely knew Mary, but from what I can recall of her, she was pleasant and really nice. She was always smiling. I hope now she's in a better place... I can't even begin to describe how unfair this tragedy was. Nobody deserved it, and nobody ever should. There are some people who think Cho-Seung He deserves to be included as a victim of the massacre, but I don't think so. He wasn't a victim; he killed thirty-two people and injured many more. He makes me extremely mad. He does't deserve to be remembered.

I'm not usually so outspoken on things like this, but his paranoia and confusion are the reasons why there are thirty-three less people in this world. I can say, however, that a couple of good things came out of the shootings: a call for stricter gun laws, an increased awareness of the dangers of depression, and most importantly, it showed how a nation (and the entire world) can rebound from a tradgedy and support each other in time of need. I think that, while tragic, it brought the whole world a little closer and made us realize that we are, indeed, all Hokies.

God bless. <3




Mary Karen Read: 1/30/88 - 4/16/07



Dedicated to all thirty-two victims of the Virginia Tech shooting. Go Hokies! <3