This blog post was originally written, in several smaller pieces, over a month ago. I had some free time on my hands and opted to try and piece it together to be something that is a little more presentable and followable for you, as the reader. If it’s jumpy, then that’s why.
This blog is entirely a reflection on a hike that some close friends and I took to The Cascades about a month ago.
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Right now, I’m laying in this bed and I’m seeing all these notifications (hundreds, today alone) about the story that Virginia Tech News posted this morning. As I read through comments and other posts and see more and more people inspired by the story, it’s fascinating. So many people that I don’t even know are somehow being touched by this story thank to social media and the fantastic video that University Relations put together about it.
A few moments later, after I stop checking but then eventually log back in, I get a facebook message from an old friend. He was a student that I mentored this past summer while he was a “resident” of mine while taking part in jCamp. This kid really stood out to me. It was probably his passion for VT that was evident the first time that I met him. One of the first questions that he asked me wasn’t about jouranlism, but about how late Lane Stadium was open so that he could go take a picture on the field during that summer. Being an RA to a floor of boys, I brought my PS3 in, and he gave me a run for my money while playing NCAA Football 2013 (which is one of my favorite video games, and really the only one that I play with any sort of habit). He was as big of a Hokie fan as I was…
We said we would meet up when I came up to FedEx field for the football game against Cincy this year but unfortunately he was out of town. Never one to burn bridges, we stayed in touch…
Isn’t that crazy? This guy who I had only met a few times is potentially making his decision on where to go to school based on some video of me and my friends practicing Ut Prosim. I think the reason this really surprised me was because I give tours all the time. To some people that decide to come to VT, and to some people that don’t. But the fact that I didn’t even try to convince this guy that VT is the best place on Earth – that really made my day.
It was a football game in Lane Stadium. Tyrod Taylor, the staring quarterback, had just completed numerous miraculous plays against Nebraska to complete an even more miraculous comeback. It was one of my first experiences inside Lane Stadium, and boy was I thankful for it.
At the conclusion of the game, everyone leaves their seats in the North End Zone (the student section), and rush the field. All of the friends I am sitting with offer to take me down, but realizing how dangerous that may be (most of them I didn’t think would be able to carry me that far and for that long…and up and down the stairs!) I declined, and opted to just bask in the awesomeness instead. After everyone levaes, more students are running down from behind me. A stranger comes up to me and says:
Do you want to go down on the field?
Of course my answer is yes. He picks me up, throws me on his back, and here I am suddenly on a stranger’s back rushing the field at Lane Stadium. After all of the craziness, Chalem rushedly carries me back to my seat in the Stadium, and then my friends return and they all come get my wheelchair for me and we leave the game. I never got a chance to say thank you to Chalem on that particular day. However, thanks to this video, I got to meet him again. And when he told me who he was, the first thing I said was thank you.
Chalem also told me about how he saw the story on Imgur, a popular photo sharing service. Form there, it spread to Reddit, and numerous other news outlets and web forms that I’ll post at the end of the blog. But I think the coolest thing about all of it was the people that I was able to touch, and realize that I touched, just by asking my friends to hike me up to the top of a mountain. I just wanted to (selfishly) knock an item off of my Hokie Bucket List, but people found such inspiration from it.
I received dozens of Facebook messages and e-mails in the weeks after the hike. There was a coworker who wrote,
Justin, When your story of the hike to the cascades was on the news the other day, my son, Drew, got excited “I know him! He showed us around campus!” You [must] have given a tour to the Auburn Middle School 6th grade earlier in the semester. It looked like you all had a great day & lots of fun. Hope to see you at the next meeting at the Grad. School next week. Good luck with exams.
If you follow my blog at all, you’d know that he was probably referring to the Winning Choices motivational talks that I gave back in October at some local middle schools.
But out of all of them, there was one that really stood out. There was a mother who Facebook messaged me about her daughter – whose name I have changed to Riley due to my love of that name for a future kid of mine. She wrote me a few times and we went back and forth and I learned more about her daughter who was born with a small chance of living. The doctors believed that her developmental issues, which would sustain for the rest of her life, were due to a lack of oxygen that she experienced in the fetus. They told Riley’s parents that their daughter would ever be able to walk, speak, or do many of the normal activities that most of us take for granted, much less find a job or anything of the sort. Below is part of Riley’s mom’s messages to me –
You are certainly welcome, Justin. I have attached Riley’s story, and thank you for asking for it. I chuckle to think that I gave you the impression we have everything figured out…far from it. However, I know without a doubt that we are much richer as a result of having Rileyas our daughter. I guess I never want to feel that we have it all under control, because then our dependence on Jesus Christ would diminish.
Regardless of the nature of a challenge or handicap, I never cease to marvel at the conversations we are able to have with others who face similar (although different) life-long challenges. I can seldom take Rileyon errands without at least one person stopping us to share their story about a relative or friend in a similar situation. It is nice that the barriers are so often removed, and that we feel free to talk with others about real life. (This is why I could so easily write to you)!
Finally, your statement about knowing that things can always be worse reminds me of a story I’d like to share with you.
One day there were scores of people in line at a buffet table, ready to fill their plates. However, this group of people was different. Prior to entering the building, they all had serious, life-long handicaps, either mental, physical, psychological, or a combination of such. Upon going through the door of the building where the buffet was offered, each person was completely relieved of their challenge, and they were healed. On the buffet table, however, was not food, but rather, all of the challenges each person had shed upon entering the building. Each person had complete freedom to choose any item from the buffet table.
Once everyone had gone through the buffet line and was seated at the tables, it was discovered that each person had chosen the handicap they had before they entered the building.
Although this story is obviously fictional, I do believe that God equips us with exactly what we need to live the life He has given us. That does not mean that it is always easy, always fun and always what we may want, but it is exactly where we are supposed to be.
From reading a bit about you, it is obvious that you choose to live your life to the fullest, and that you are a blessing to others. You inspire others to be the best they can be. In short, it is apparent that you bring out the best in others. That, Justin, in a gift. Take care,
I, myself, have been so moved, challenged, and inspired – and I challenge, even moreso than others – by so many people who saw that video.
Here’s the collection of links that I saved where you can find more coverage of the story. Thanks for reading.
http://www.goodworldnews.org/index.php/lifestyle/item/356-virginia-tech-students-carry-wheelchair-bound-student-on-adventure-through-the-cascades
http://dislit2012.umwblogs.org
http://www.wdbj7.com/news/wdbj7-virginia-tech-students-carry-paraplegic-classmate-on-fourmile-hike-in-giles-county-20121204,0,793518.story
http://wtvr.com/2012/12/04/virginia-tech-students-carry-ultimate-hokie-up-cascades/
http://topics.digtriad.com/virginia%20tech%20hokies
http://www.dailypress.com/news/wdbj7-virginia-tech-students-carry-paraplegic-classmate-on-fourmile-hike-in-giles-county-20121204,0,1752277.story
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2012/dec/04/virginia-tech-students-help-another-student-comple-ar-2398928/
http://pinterest.com/imahokie/activity/
http://www.topix.com/county/giles-va
http://www.fox59.com/videogallery/73588637/News/A-big-show-of-friendship-for-a-man-known-as-the-
http://wtkr.com/2012/12/05/virginia-tech-students-carry-paraplegic-classmate-on-hike-to-see-waterfall/
http://sites.psu.edu/rclwaschenko/2012/12/04/ut-prosim/
http://www.rovrocks.com/pages/joejohnson.html?article=10626391
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/21085/ultimate-hokie-relies-on-friends
http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/21082/justins-story-strive-to-care-for-others-uniquely
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