It’s yet another Friday and oh how long this week seemed for so many of us. The Virginia Tech shootings have almost left me with no energy to even have fun. But, life goes on, we have to choose to be strong, and we have to look at life as a blessing.

The shooter would’ve wanted for everyone to be sad to a point of being hopeless. But, what I have seen this week was a community filled with courage, dignity, and hope. Our nation has had to look at itself once again, and ask the questions of how or even why this tragedy had to occur.

I am inspired by the many blessed souls that are now in heaven because of the heroism that so many individuals showed during the tragedy. One glaring story of a 70+ yr old professor who was a survivor of the holocaust. How his action of trying to hold the door to the classroom so that his students could have a chance to escape may have saved countless more lives. This is something that begs us to ponder…

He must’ve asked himself, after the holocaust, why he was spared and his friends and maybe even his family members were killed. Was it because his purpose on this earth had paved way for that moment. We can really never know, all we can do is trust that there is a higher power that has a greater plan for all of us.

What I am sure of is that this week will never be forgotten. As in the day of September 11, this week will also shed light on some of the heroes who dare to surface during these times. The heroes who gave their life in the face of their own certain death.

I am sad, yes. But I am also inspired at the heroism and the selflessness of ordinary individuals. I am inspired by the Virginia Tech community, and I am inspired by the grieving friends and family of the victims. Indeed, this was a week of heroes and of a strong Hokie community who said to the rest of the nation and the world… We are Virginia Tech and our courage is what defines us.