They say a hero could save us...I'm not 'gonna stand here and wait...

Today I was shot twice... In all likelihood, this is probably my last image in this life, lying on the cold and dusty floor of Bosshart Hall at Rowan University. It's eery in its coldness, the taupe standard lockers of academia moving down a hallway where just in front of that open door on the left side, another shooter stands waiting to ambush the police. While waiting for help to come, I thought about how the students who've been involved in things like this, but was brought back to my own little reality by the searing pain in my lower abdomen, radiating to the oozing hole in my leg. Of course, today, I was lucky enough to only be living a virtual nightmare, made real only by my participation in the active shooter response drill at Rowan.

This still grab from a movie I shot just seconds before the first arriving Rowan Police officers entered the first floor made me think of all those who actually lived through the terror of having someone enter the halls of someplace you consider safe, and some who didn't make it home that night. Today could have very easily been real to me because I forced myself to mentally be in that frame of mind. It was very sobering and introspective. And during the debrief amongst the ramblings of administrators and suits who tidy up the small details after the foot soldiers win the war was uttered some sense that took several hours to realize. The "war" isn't only being fought in some other country or foreign land, it's come home to our own back yards. It's in our streets...our schools. It's being waged by foreigners and red-blooded Americans alike. And that should scare each one of us just a little bit every day to appreciate what we have. To me though, it makes perfect sense. I identified with the thoughts and ideals of each one of those cops who stepped over me or pulled me out today. I don't want to make a million dollars, or have a parade in my honor, or even to have an "easy" job - I'll leave that for the sports players or pop singers. I want to do something I know makes a difference. I want to put my own fears aside when people need help like the heroes I see on the job everyday. And I want to take a minute to remember those students who lived through an actual tragedy.

I doubt most of my posts will be this serious. But I needed a catharsis from the emotions of the day and how that photo made them feel real.