A Moment of Silence

There were a few things that I wanted to catch you all up on but I need to put that off for a moment. Some of you may have heard about the NC beach house blaze that took place early Sunday morning. Thirteen SC students were staying at the house. Six escaped while seven lost their lives. Of the seven, six were at USC. And one was a current student of mine, Justin Anderson:



He was in my TTH 2p class. I did not know anything about the accident until I got to class today. In fact, the authorities only just confirmed the identities of the dead even though the university knew for sure from other sources. He was a nice guy and his classmates are all in shock. One poor girl knew him and two others because she is in the same sorority as the girls who were there. You can imagine the faces I saw today. I thought that they were just unusually quiet. And no, we didn't have class for long. Some of my other students know either other victims or survivors. You can bet they have free reign this week.

It saddens me greatly. . .to think that they died so terribly. It's going to be odd not seeing him in class but I haven't had time to get to know many of my students well this semester. Well enough to feel the extra pain of their loss because I know them but not so much that I can't truly stop my life for mourning. And that may be the most painful thing of all for me.

My heart does go out to their parents, friends, and families. Especially those who survived the fire because they have a long road ahead of them. I am proud of USC for responding so quickly to the situation and for aiding everyone. They truly do care and I've seen it many times that they aren't all about the money. So, please join us in a moment of silence and wish everyone left behind well. Because they are the ones who need it most now as those, like my student, who have left are beyond care for this earthly world.