The Danger of a Single Story
There are many stereotypes around different cultures and places, but one of the biggest ones around my community is one that we, as students, live through every single day on campus. One story, one event, one day; that’s all it took for Virginia Tech to be seen differently across the nation. On April 16, 2007, Virginia Tech’s reputation was drastically changed forever. What was seen as a tragedy to everyone soon turned into jokes and puns for some. I remember being in an orientation group chat when I saw someone who had their name set to “VT Shooter” and started making jokes and even threatening the people in our chat. Unsurprisingly, we reported this user and quickly exited the group chat as to not have to put up with any more of their comments. It wasn’t long after that we won the Victoria’s Secret Campus Showdown and I remember a student from the University of Texas San Antonio, which was the runner up in the competition, and they made a startling comment/ threat to Virginia Tech students, “I hope someone comes in and shoots up your school again”. It was extremely hard to read and it was an awful thing to say to a community that is as tight good-hearted as ours. I couldn’t believe that someone would say such a thing, but it just reminded me that the Virginia Tech Massacre is the story that defines my community, and it seems that it is becoming more and more difficult to break that.
It’s very difficult to talk to someone about my school because when I do the response usually is, “Oh. Isn’t that the college that had that shooting?” Its definitely not the way that I see my school and it shouldn’t be the way that others see it either. I cannot express or put into words just how upset it makes me to hear how other perceive my community without having any prior experiences here. I have a friend in California that I got to know from my ex-boyfriend. Over the past couple of years, we have stayed connected and when she heard that I applied to Virginia Tech her reaction was quite different from what I was expecting. “Are you sure you want to go there? I don’t know how safe it is. If you do pick Tech, then you better be very careful and cautious. I don’t want you to get hurt”. Those were only a few things she said in her reaction to my choice. But the thing is, everyone who has this tinted view about Virginia Tech is wrong- Tech is one of the safest places I could be and our story far from defines us.
Since the moment I arrived on campus during my first tour, I automatically felt safe and at home. My mom was actually the one who told me that she would be worried if I went to any other school because she felt that Tech had the best security practices in place. I was overjoyed that the felt that way because I felt the same. The thing is, whereas most people would think that such a devastating tragedy would tear a community apart and strike fear in the people’s eyes, this had the opposite effect on Blacksburg. Virginia Tech rose above and rebuilt and amended the community to the point where it was not only at the best its ever been, but it was even stronger than all of the communities around it. This event had brought Virginia Tech to the shining glory that it is today and I couldn’t be any prouder to call myself a Hokie.
I believe that a single story can define a community for the better and for the worse, but all that matters is how you as an individual perceive your community. Even if everyone on the outside sees Virginia Tech solely for the Virginia Tech massacre, we know the truth about our loving and compassionate community that continues to get stronger and stronger every day- its our secret treasure. In the words of an anonymous poet, “From the outside looking in, It’s hard to understand. From the inside looking out, It’s hard to explain”.