Wednesday, October 24, 2007

We are the Hokies

React to the poem.

Ideas: how did it make you feel when you read it? What did you think about while reading it? Relate it to another event.

13 comments:

Kyle said...

When I read this poem it was very depressing at first. Krista Kietrys the writer begins with “It is a sad time in Blacksburg. No one understands why this has happened”. She intentionally tries to make readers feel upset about what happened at Virginia Tech. As the poem continues, I felt as if she was trying to let everyone know that this school has become so much stronger after the incident occurred. The reason why, people were getting to know each other and helping everyone fight through this. Virginia Tech is not going to dwell on this moment; they will move forward and learn from this experience. I thought the best part of the poem was, “When all is said and done, it is not the gunman who we will remember. It is the lives of those we have lost”, to never forget the students who lost their lives that day. The gunman will be forgotten and labeled appalling names because what he did was unbelievable, something like that should never have happened. Virginia tech students are Hokies, strong hearted and loving, together they will make it through this hard time. As Kietrys states, “We are Virgina Tech. We are the Hokies. We are family”.
When I read this poem it reminded me of when a kid passed away at my high school. He committed suicide and it was very hard on all of my classmates. Everyone was upset for a while, we had counselors to talk to, homework was pushed to the side, and the school was a place where everyone could bond. As you walked around the halls you saw students crying, and no one wanted to be in class. You saw people helping, trying to comfort each other. It was a horrible experience to go through, but it did create a closer bond between every student. With the hugging and the talking, it allowed friends to cry and have a shoulder to lean on. Eventually, all the students moved on never forgetting their friend, realizing that they can’t dwell on this moment forever. So I believe my school went through something similar to Virginia Tech, but not to the same extent. The student turned their emotions around, allowing them to move on and be stronger than they were before.

Safa said...

We are the Hokies, by Krista Kietrys talks about the difficult time Virginia tech went through after the shooting. My first thought when I saw this poem was that it would be about how aweful the lives of many became after the incident. yet when i read it i realized it was talking about all the good that came out of the catastrophe. how people came together as one to help and support all of those who are of need for a friend at that difficult time. this poem states that all those who were takin away by this attack will always remain in the hearts of every student at virginia tech while the gunman will be forgotten. reading this poem showed me how peolpe can be there for others, how valueable a friend is in such times. Krista also talks about how bein a hokie means having pride, strenght and compassion. i believr this incident brought out those three characteristics out in every hokie.

martha said...

When I first read the poem written by Krista Kietrys I felt her sense of hopefulness and optimism in the words that she used. Especially the lines “And no one will ever forget. But it is in this great time of grief that we of Virginia Tech have become even stronger.” This shows how even though the event was tragic, together as a whole community and school they will support each other emotionally and physically and will always remember what happened no matter what. They have a common bond of being a “Hokie”. They not only share that characteristic, but they think of each other as family within the Virginia Tech community.
After reading the poem, I also felt that she was embracing everything that she had to comfort her such as her friends, family, and the Virginia Tech community. Especially, the line “All across this great campus and community, Hokies everywhere are serving each other. Whether it be a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen, or just the company of friends. Whatever the need be, we are there.” I also felt that it made them more united as a school than divided as individuals keeping to themselves. These lines emphasize that idea: “It will be difficult to go on from here. But because we are Hokies, because we are here for one another, we will not have to do it alone.”
While reading the poem, I thought about all the people that were affected by such a tragic event and how their lives must have changed drastically because of it. I thought about the person who had the nerve to do such a horrible deed. I also felt that Krista is such a brave and courageous girl because I honestly would probably feel devastated and would TRY to be as optimistic as I can despite all the support that everyone would want to give.
I think this event can be related to the recent event that happened in Cleveland and the September 11 attack that occurred in 2001. Like we discussed in class, events like these are what bring people together. But why do events like these have to occur before we become united as a whole? Why can’t we try to patch things up or support one another without having to hurt or kill someone in the process? I guess it’s just the way our human minds function?

NiCk said...

When reading this it makes me feel a way that i cant describe in any way. By them saying that they have pride and compassion means the world for them. This will help them alot with going through with what they went through. When reading this i get a horrible feeling in my stomach thinking that this could be any of us or any of our peers at any time. In that case you look out everywhere you go when you are on campus and you always now take that extra look at all your peers around you. While reading this all i can think about is how this horrific event effected people around on campus and how they are trying to handle this. This was definitly a hard time for them in their lives and no one ever deserves to deal with this. The event i can relate this to is my good friend who was killed at Rowan this passed weekend. He was mugged and beat to death this is a very hard thing and will have a great deal of a effect of people around him and his friends and family. The funeral will be the hard thing for me in my life which will be on friday.

Stephanie said...

When I first read the poem “We are the Hokies” it made me feel very sad that something like this even had to happen at Virginia Tech, but it also made me feel like something good was going to come from it and it was going to bring people together. I felt like that was going to help to get people through this tragedy. While reading this it made me think of an event that occurred at my high school at the end of my senior year. Some students place sixteen sticks of fireworks in two lockers at my high school. The whole school was evacuated and no one was hurt, but it could have caused a lot of damage if it was set off and many people would have gotten hurt. This scared everyone in the school and no one had any idea who would do something like that. Once everyone found out who it was we were all shocked and could not believe that they would even do such a thing. I felt like this was very similar to Virgina Tech because they did not think that the gunman would have done what he did and we did not think the students in my school would have done what they did. After this incident it brought my whole school together and it just seemed to be somewhat similar to what happened in Virginia Tech.

Drilona said...

When I first read this poem I really felt very sad. It hasn�t pass much time since that tragedy happened but still it seems like it happened yesterday. I still remember Virginia tech students gathered up outside their school crying for their friends. Holding flowerers, candelas and pictures of their friends who had been killed by one of their school friend, Virginia tech students were trying to cry and comfort each other. This tragedy brought together the whole community and showed that as a whole is easier to face it. They were there to support families and friends of those who had gone. As Kietrys says in her poem we will always remember those students who were unfairly killed but we will not remember the gunman. He does not deserve to be remembered, or he does not deserve any mercy. He will just be remembered as the man who killed about thirty innocent students. I can relate this tragedy to the one that happened on September 11, 2001. A lot of innocent people where killed when the plane crashed into the world trade centers. This tragedy gathered American community together. People from all over the country offered their support to the families of those people who experienced loss. Every year as a community they honor those victims, showing that they will always be remembered.

Perk said...

I feel sympathetic towards the Virginia Tech community for their tragic lost of their loved ones and peers. Their deaths will be remembered as us as a nation pulling together in a time of grief. We remembered them as fallen hero that served our country. When tragedies like this occur we tend to mourn and forget. We take life for granted, while the ones that have past want to live again. While reading the poem I related to the emotions that the poet was expressing. She was saying that “We Are The Hokies” throughout the poem. Basically she is sending out the message that even though they lost people they are still a strong and functioning community. She expressed her feelings towards the murdered and gave him no credit for what he has done. In fact they erased the memory of him and replaced with the community coming together as one.

Perk said...

It is similar to the Columbine tragedy, the only difference is one happened in a high school the other happened in a college. Many people believe that universities are safe for the students. But when this happened they started to second guess themselves on campus safety. Now there are many ways to prevent events like this from occurring in the school system, but it can still happen anywhere.

EAZE said...

When i read this poem it made me feel a sense of closure. Closure to the whole Virginia Tech incident. To know that people there are looking toward the future and coming together to make a future together. It was a very upsetting incident and a crisis for any school, family, or individual to go through but for her to write the poem brought a shadow of hope to everyone in knowing that the school's legacy and the all of the lives' legacy will live on. She reminded evryone that they are strong and they are Hokies

I think it is simialr to the event on Sept. 11 because such a tragedy brought everyone togtehr and made eveyone tighter. Even people who hated each other came togther for this cause to comfort their brother and sister. This tragedy brought the country togther in a huge bond of peace and mounrning. Everyone got through it just like the Virgina Tech tragedy together.

amanda said...

When I read the poem about the Hokies it made me upset and amde me thing what if this could happen at our school and everything. Its just hard to imagine that something this terrible could happen at a school and so many people be affected. I am glad our school has a plan and system. Its sad that she didnt know the person but then made me sad as the school came together as one and was there to one another no matter what. I would of enver wrote a poem to express my feelings but i think i would of done something different

Hannah said...

The poem We are the Hokies by Krista Kietrys was a very good poetic piece of writing. While reading this I was visualizing everything that happened that day. I was remembering the news reports, and sadness started to stir up in my mind. Quickly though it went away because Krista’s poem is not about making someone sad it is about pride. I really like how she talking about how they are a family, and how the Hokies will move on from this and still be strong. I also like how she did not mention, or give any attention to the murderer. He did this horrible thing so that he could be noticed and always be remembered because no one really saw him, he was a shadow in the crowed and he voiced his opinion in a horrible way. This poem made me feel like there is hope in the world and it made me happy that the Hokies are staying strong and they are not letting this defeat them.
One thing that was negative about this thought is the fact that a tragedy brought the Hokies together. At every school there is school spirit and it is fun there, but not like how they brought the students and staff together when this attack happened. This type of an event can be compared to the September 11th tragedy and how our whole country came together because of something bad that happened. The sad fact is that these tragedies are going to be remembered but people move on and forget. I agree we should move on but still have the same amount of pride and family association. I loved the poem and what happened at Virginia Tech that day will always have a place in everyone’s heart.

Muna said...

The poem by the of virgina student, touched many people in Virgina tech, Virgina, and the US. She talked about how the problem will not affect her or her people in Virgina Tech. She made it seem like Virgina tech was her second family. She also stated that we should move on from crying that it would only hold use back. I felt she was right about moving on, because there isn't a point in crying forever. We should all learn how to move foward and not backwards. To me the problem was resolved by her still continuing her education and goals. But she will never forget the people she lost.

Mike Darmofalski said...

This is a poem that has a lot of meanning and is very sad. The author attends Virginia Tech and was present on campus at the time of the tragic shootings. Kietrys writes that because "We are Hokies" we will get through this. "Hokies" is the nickame of Virginia Tech. Kietrys is tring to say that since we are Hokies and we will unite, we will be able to fight through this tragic time.
This is a very scary poem to read because Virginia Tech is a college just like Montclair State is. Reading this poem makes me feel very sad and also scared at the same time. This type of thing can happen anywhere and some people are crazy enough to do things like this. Like with the shooter from
Virginia Tech, it can be easy to predict that a person would do this like people felt the shooter from Virginia Tech would. The problem was that people said this after the tragedy had occured.
I feel that the most important part of this article is that part where Kietrys talks about how she is happy to be attending Virginia Tech. She states that there is no other place she would want to be than Blacksburg, Virgnia. Kietrys says she has never felt so apart of something and so proud of something. To me, this says that Virginia Tech, the president, the students, and people close to the campus did a great job following the tragedy. For someone to feel so proud and be happy after an event like this, shows me that this campus did a lot of great things that made the students feel comfortable and proud.
The thing I can relate this to is the death of my good friend Andrew Kronyak, who passed away on August 21, 2007. I can relate the Virginia Tech shooting to the passing of Andrew because just like Kietrys I wonder why this had to happen. Why did Andrew have to die? He did nothing wrong to anybody and was doing great in life and was on his way to college. I can also relate because after this event it seemed that all of my friends became a lot closer. We were always there for each other and seemed to be proud of how good of friends we were.