Reflecting on Ocean Isle

I was never a student at South Carolina or Clemson. I am not a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. I have never met any of the students that lost their lives in Ocean Isle Beach Sunday morning. But I know that I am not alone in sharing grief and sorrow over such a tragic fire. Seeing the video of what is left of a beach house that formerly held happy memories makes me emotional. Four days later and I like everyone else am still wondering why this happened. The results from the investigation seem rather irrelevant. It doesn't matter what started the fire. It never should have happened.

All I can think about is how easily that could have been my brother or sister, who are both members of the greek community at their colleges. And while the sorority stickers on my car are different than the ones that still remain outside that home on Scotland, they are very much the same. Even if you were never in a fraternity or a sorority, you can't help but be connected to the students in that house. We are left behind; wondering what they were thinking when they realized that they weren't going to make it out, how terrifying it must have been to be at that scene, and thinking about the talents and futures wasted by an event that I can't even understand.

While we were never close to the beach, my friends and I enjoyed getting off campus for the weekend too. Escaping the pressures of midterms, papers, and textbooks- and taking it for granted that we would return to our studies by Sunday afternoon. Something like this sure puts into perspective how trivial a disappointing grade was, makes me regret complaining about physics problem sets, and realize how lucky I am to have never dealt firsthand with a tragedy such as this one.

I can only pray for comfort for those left behind. So I pray for the families and friends of those that were lost and also for those who lived. Even long after this leaves the news, the effects of Sunday morning will remain. And as cliche as it sounds, we are forced by this weekend to remember that life is precious. And it can be changed in an instant.

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