An "Absurd" Notion

The likelihood that a deranged and/or belligerent individual would walk into a school (or facility like a school) with the intent to shoot, stab, and kill as many people as possible should be small. It should be so small that it should be unheard of. It should be regarded as an absurd notion. However, it isn't absurd. It's common enough that we drill students on how to act or what to do in case of an active shooter. Almost like we drill elementary children to get away from windows and to crouch down in the case of a tornado. We now live in a world were the probability that a tornado strikes a school during tornado season is comparable to the probability that a psychopath walks into a school with a gun.

As disturbing as this notion is, a somewhat comforting one is that our society has acknowledged this danger to a point that we are preparing ourselves. Then comes the issues on how to prepare ourselves. The officer seemed almost desperate to get this point across; how we've been taught to act when there's an active shooter is wrong.

For years I remember being taught a simple three step process, close and lock the door, turn the lights out, and huddle in the corner out of sight. The thinking behind this strategy went like this, if the intruder couldn't open the door easily and couldn't see anyone inside the classroom, he or she would move on. Turns out, this strategy is good at one thing, getting people killed. This strategy is so ingrained in some places that it has made some students into victims by making them passive. What's more frightening is the fact that this information is having a hard time getting out there and some schools are still teaching this old method.

My thoughts during these drills, when crouching or standing in the corner of dark room, usually involved the idea that if someone with a gun came through that door, our only hope would be to charge and overwhelm that individual. Turns out, this is the new strategy that the officer was advocating, that with an extra idea of getting away when possible.

Although it's saddening that the notion of that armed-psychopath walking into a school is not so absurd. I'm truly relieved that there is a new strategy circulating that empowers individuals and doesn't just leave them to be victims. It was always an unsettling feeling knowing that we were defenseless in the case that a shooter did come through that door.

Nothing is Guaranteed

In this past school year, and especially this last semester, reality has been creeping up on me. The overriding theme of this said reality is, "nothing is guaranteed." Though I would have been loathe to admit it, when I arrived here at Drury in the Fall, I felt like all I had to do was go to class. And after four years of going to class I would graduate and move on to a job that would support me and a modest living. In a similar fashion I felt secure in my personal life. However, I've been reminded of one of my own philosophies from times gone by, "nothing is guaranteed."


I came to this philosophy years ago because of, you guessed it, Cross-Country or Running in general. I trained and ran harder than any of the guys on our team, when they ran five miles I ran ten, when they showed up three times a week, I showed up twice a day five days a week and then ran my own long run on the weekend. Yet, they still beat me. In season, when it came down to it, I was fifth man on a seven man team. No matter how hard I tried it was never guaranteed that I be better than those I out-worked. After I understood this there was some heartache, essentially I came to understand that I was no good at what I loved, but eventually it became a badge of honor, I was a work horse that loved what he did and it didn't matter that they were faster. I'm a workhorse.

Just keep plowing..... Just keep plowing....

No matter how hard I try, I still might not make it. But if I don't try at all then I for certain will not make it. That is the biggest change in me. As much as you'd think that would be a motivator, initially there is the heartache. I'm not good enough to coast. I feel like I should be that good, but it isn't so. I don't have Kevin's natural intellect, I'm not outgoing like Chezney, or responsible like Heather. To have a chance at succeeding I have to show up ten times as much as the next guy. What good is a workhorse that doesn't work?

He doesn't look like he's good for much. 

The hour is too late for me to truly salvage this school year as it should have been. But, I've learned and the change in more than philosophy, that is a change in how I act, is occurring.

D. Logan Whittmore


A Note: Near the end of the Cross-Country season referenced in this post, I finished a race as our third man rather than as our fifth. This particular race was on the hilliest course I've ever seen, those individuals that logged fewer miles than myself succumbed to the hills. There were 65 runners in the race; at the half mile mark I was in 50th, I finished 33rd. I passed over a quarter of the field. :)