OU has a welcoming, friendly environment that provides a sense of family

Last week, the high school I graduated from was struck with a great deal of loss and mourning. In five days, there were three student deaths. Three people I never knew, and now never will. Three people who had hopes and dreams, and will never get the chance to chase those aspirations. My high school is feeling the loss and pain, but they are coming together. They are becoming stronger. They are showing support and making sure the victims’ families know the losses were not in vain.

Although I am no longer a student at that high school, these losses still impact me from afar. I feel sadness for those who knew these three students and the families who are grieving. Everything else in life seems so trivial when there are those who are dealing with a loss of a loved one.

When I was a student at my high school, the only time the whole school really came together was when we were playing our rivals in the football game. Everyone painted up, came to the stands, and we all cheered our team to a hopeful victory. But the next day, everyone went their separate ways. With over 3,000 students in our school, it’s hard to know every single person. I was involved in yearbook as a student and got to know so many different people of different backgrounds and personalities. It was a great experience; many of the people I met and became friends with are people I probably never would have talked to or seen if I had not been a part of yearbook.

But there has been a shift in how people interact at my high school this past week. They all came together to honor the lives of the fallen Trojans. One lost to a shooting, another to a heart defect, and yet another to suicide after being bullied. Although such tragedy is never an easy thing to overcome, I am proud of how everyone is dealing with these losses, even having a meeting at 7 a.m. one morning to pray and just talk about how those students’ impacted them.

Everyone was together, they were one. This is the feeling I get every day being at OU. I feel like I am truly a part of something larger and that we are all one. Everywhere I walk on campus, it is so easy to strike up a new conversation with someone new, whether it be at a cross-walk, in a 300-person lecture, or waiting for an elevator. There are so many opportunities to meet new people, and groups that give you a chance to reach out to people with similar interests and hobbies, beliefs and values. OU is such a friendly campus, and when I was grieving for those at my high school, my new family here at OU helped me through. I had so many people to help me, provide me advice, and people to talk to. Throughout this week, I have not once felt alone. I realized then that if I ever needed my family, I am already surrounded by them. At OU, we are one and there is no better place to be.

RIP Hinrick, Jake, and Andrea. You will be missed.