It all came with such alarming speed. First, the text at 3:45 which was jarring yet quickly dismissed as students continued about their Wednesday afternoon. Then, came the rumor mill, the friends and staff telling you that this was indeed real and something to be taken seriously. After the initial jolt and terror that no doubt struck many on campus, a slow burn ensued. Three hours, some spent it in the same classroom, others in their room, and a very select unfortunate few in their professors’ offices. By the end of the event, boredom had replaced terror and frustration took the place of fear. While a great many students would understandably hope to forget that day, I believe there are some valuable takeaways from this moment from which we could all benefit.
My own experience was slightly different than many of my classmates, but nevertheless I am sure we shared many of the same emotions that day. I got the now-infamous text while walking on campus on my way to the post office. While I initially was more bewildered than anything else, texts from my friends and further notifications made clear that this was no drill. I eventually made my way to safety in town, though alert and quite frankly scared for the possibilities of what could be happening on campus. This sense of uncertainty and anxiety was only amplified by my position off campus and the constant shrieks of sirens as police and first responders darted to the scene. However, as I finally walked home in the dark that evening I felt a sense of gratitude, humility, and perspective that I am not would have been possible just a few hours earlier.
It may be hard for some of us to entirely reconstruct the feelings and uncertainty we felt during that afternoon a few weeks ago; after all, we know how the story played out in hindsight. But in general, it seems like most everyone went through a whirlwind of emotions—panic, deathly terror, and euphoric unity—before we were able to skate by without the damage that usually accompanies such feelings. Some of us learned how we might react in a life-threatening situation which one could never actually simulate, and we all could leave campus with gratitude for what we have here in
Lexington—our school, our community, and our idyllic environment amongst much more. We come away with the knowledge that what we have and experience on a daily basis is actually quite fragile, perhaps more so that we care to typically admit.
Undoubtedly these feelings have waned in the week plus since the lockdown; that is just a simple fact about human memory and the focus on the demands of day-to-day existence. Still, it is a worthy endeavor to at least try and keep those feelings in the back of your mind; when you’re grinding on an assignment at midnight, when you’re bored on a rainy day, keep in mind the enormity of what is going right to afford you the luxury of focusing on the little things.
