Viking Voices showcases student opinions on different issues by asking them different questions.
Do you have any messages for the Umpqua Community?
Eric Jacobs Aadjunct professor of clarinet
“I can’t imagine what it feels like to be in [their shoes]. I’ve never had someone in my family been shot before and it has to be awful. Your life changes from that moment for the rest of your life. I hope they are able to come together and find a way to get through this. The politicians need to find a way to make this stop happening or at least create a community where it doesn’t happen as much.”
Megan Ewert sophomore, behavioral neuroscience
“Try not to lose yourself through the situation. Find something that you can grasp onto and let this make you stronger instead of breaking you down.”
Ryann Lacey freshman, sociology
“If you ever need somebody to talk to there are always going to be people out there to reach out to because this country has been going through this a lot recently. [You’re] not in it alone.”
Connor Garrels freshman, undecided
“It’s a hard thing for me to understand because I’ve never been through something like that and I can’t really imagine what they are going through, but I understand that it’s awful. It’s really unfathomable whatever reason would compel someone to go and do something like that at a school. I just don’t understand, but really my heart does go out to all those people and I wish that there was something that we could do about it more directly other than send all of our wishes and prayers. It’s a really hard thing. Obama said, ‘it has become routine,’ and that’s an awful thing to become routine. I don’t know if it is gun control or something with mental illnesses that we need to do about it, but it is not a cool thing to happen at all. Especially so much and so recently.”
Kaitlin Webster senior, choral music education an political science
“All I can say is that it is a tragic event and that it’s something that no one would have thought would have happened. It seems like such a safe and small community that is close together so it is very shocking. I can only speak on behalf of myself, but I am sure everyone at Western wants to show their support... and hopes that they can get through this tragic time.”
Nicholas Thompson junior, accounting
“Stay strong. There is hope even if you can’t find it, usually it is hope you can make yourself. The light at the end of the tunnel is one that you put there so reach for it.”
Elise Saxon junior, Spanish and computer science
“It is pretty absurd that that is a thing that happens every few months and I don’t know how we can stop that from happening, but to the families I think the most important thing is having hope in times like this. Humans are way more resilient than we think we are. You can go on in the face of tragedy and the world is not over. I think that this kind of thing calls to mind the fact that the world is a really terrible place and we need to work really hard on improving it.”
Nathan So junior, biological chemistry
“I know there are a lot of people at Western who are keeping them in our thoughts and our support goes out to them.”
Solutions by The State News
