What I experienced on Feb. 13, 2023, I will never forget for the rest of my life. I had just returned to the house where I was living, and sat down to eat when I heard sirens coming from East Grand River Avenue. At first, I did not think anything of it other than someone getting pulled over.
I knew things were serious when there were multiple sirens, and the sounds were going on for hours. The first alert email from Michigan State University I received came around 8:20 p.m. and that is when I began to feel fear and uncertainty about what was going on.
Living only half a mile away from the MSU Union and not knowing details such as the number of shooters, the location of the shooters, and description of the suspect, really played into the emotions I was feeling.
I was at the house with four housemates; Hayden Johnson, Brayden Tava, Daniel Stout, and Braedon Kosten. We all would sit around for the next three hours texting people we knew to make sure they were safe, listening to the police scanner, and watching the news to possibly get new updates on the shooting.
During a night filled with sadness and curiosity, I stayed awake until about 5 a.m. the next morning, not being able to sleep much with all that I had experienced.
The next morning, I decided to go back back to my hometown, Clinton Township, Michigan after seeing all the sadness and grief that everyone was going through, I felt like it was the right thing to do. When I arrived, I would spend time with family and close friends and really cherish them and be thankful that I was able to see them again.
A little over a month after the shooting, it has really allowed me to understand how precious life is and to be grateful for everything in life.
I recently had a talk with a classmate, Jack Hurt.
“I live across the state from MSU, so there has been a lot of traveling on the weekends for me…I’ve been doing everything I can to distract myself while also trying to refocus on my academics,” Hurt said.
Hurt also gave some insight into what going through a situation like the shooting has taught him about life.
“Life is way too short to take for granted. I try to live in the moment at all times. It’s also not worth taking everything too serious and not taking time to have fun,” Hurt said.
Also, Hurt talked about how he has been doing a couple things routinely in order to get himself through the last month.
“I binge watched the Harry Potter movie series; I had never seen it before. So that and the new Hogwarts Legacy Video game helped as well as spending time with my family, my dog and my girlfriend,” Hurt said.