For many people in the Belmont community, the past three days have been difficult.
We lost another member of our campus Wednesday. She was someone’s friend, classmate and student. More importantly, a family lost a daughter.
When I first heard the news, it was difficult for me to react and it is still is today. I just sat there in a state of shock and confusion as I’m sure many of us did. My immediate thought was for those who knew her. I couldn’t imagine what her parents, family and friends were going through in the moment they found out the tragic news.
From the student perspective, it was hard for any us to imagine a peer has died. How can anyone react to a fellow student’s death? Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time the Belmont community has gone through this in the past year.
Some will want to make sense of this because it’s how they cope when something tragic happens. But as much as some will want to understand why this happened, we will never fully know the circumstances.
New details won’t erase the fact that family and friends are suffering the loss of a loved one and another member of the Belmont community has passed away.
The one thing we can understand, though, is our need to come together as a community and offer support for one another. We should be a community willing to listen to whatever anyone is going through in his or her life.
I know it’s advice that is usually given when a situation like this occurs, but we should be available for one another every day.
For many of us, we came to Belmont because we loved the community atmosphere and how we could connected easily with one another. Especially now, we need to stick together.
If you are feeling down in any way, no matter big or small, reach out to someone. It can be a peer, friend, floormate, professor, counselor or anyone you know you can talk with about anything.
And if someone asks if they can speak with you about their problems, let’s welcome them with open arms and not dismiss them. Back them up and show support for whatever they may be struggling with at the moment.
For those who want to seek out professional help, counseling services can be reached in their office in the Gabhart Student Center or by phone at 615-460-6856.
We are all Belmont Bruins. And Bruins look after their own.