The university can be a microcosm of the real world, an escape from it,

or both at the same time

 

Why would we invite a danger of the real world,

a danger that can be prevented from existing on school grounds,

a synthesizer of suffering,

a mechanical grim reaper,

into a community of intellectual growth?

 

Shouldn’t the university be an incubator for success, not an incubator for tragedy?

 

Originally, they were meant to protect ourselves against animals and savages

 

But now, it’s different

 

Savages now have access to these bringers of death, which has only yielded

tragedy after tragedy

 

The poor regulation of them here in the US has allowed

people who are not capable of safely owning one of these,

to own them

 

---

You’re out in the open,

 

on college grounds, after class or a school club or hanging out with friends,

you’re walking back to your dorm or you’re walking to your next class

 

At the same time, you see someone suspicious lurking around,

 

waiting patiently,

waiting,

 

observing at the environment around them,

with eyes full of darkness

 

The suspect is carrying it

 

You see the suspect lifting it

 

At an instant, you run

 

You hear it go off,

 

Bang,

Bang-Bang

 

You run, you run as fast as you can

 

Then, you feel it

 

An extremely sharp pain on your body flows through you,

you notice where the flying bullet hits you

 

You try to reach for help, but most of the people in proximity have already fled

 

You reach for your phone to contact the police

 

The minutes for response feel like hours,

months,

years,

an eternity

 

When authorities of all kinds arrive,

they might have made it in time to neutralize the enemy and save the endangered,

 

or they might be too late

 

You don’t know.

 

 

---

There is a counter-argument to every story,

“What if you had one yourself?”

 

You see the suspect taking it out

 

It goes off,

 

Bang,

Bang-Bang

 

At an instant, you reach for yours in defense

 

You and the shooter both think, “I’ll take you out first before you take me out first”

 

But then, you feel it,

 

multiple times

 

The shooter already won the quickdraw

 

You have immediate shock from the wounds, as a result, you don’t know where you shot

 

You might have missed,

you may hit,

you might have missed AND hit

 

You don’t know.

 

 

---

No matter what story to choose from, you feel pain,

 

but later on,

 

that pain can and will multiply to your loved ones

 

This nightmare can no longer be considered a nightmare,

 

because nightmares are just dreams

 

It is a reality,

a stark reality,

a reminder that this is the real world,

 

and in the face of danger, there is no second chance after death

 

So I ask you,

 

yes, you,

 

the question again:

 

Shouldn’t the university be an incubator for success, not an incubator for tragedy?