Casey

You never think it will be you.

You hear stories about stuff like this happening, but you never think it
will happen.

Today, in our last port of call, Casey Schulman, a student, lost her life.

She was my neighbor and I had done lip synch with her. I didn't know her well,
but she always gave me a smile when we passed each other in the halls.

Ya know Dean John said at the beginning of the voyage that we would all
make it back to Florida. Now, we're not.

I went upstairs to deck 6 to see who was on the ship. Then my friend
Lindsy came over and said have you heard about what happened?
I hadn't
Then she told me what happened
And then I heard the chorus of crying coming from the Union. I had no
doubts that what she was telling me was true.
I was in a state of shock for almost 10 minutes. Then I started seeing
people come out of the Union. How devastated they were. The cries you
give only when someone you love has died.
Lindsy left me
I sat down
And then my tears started flowing too.

It was like someone had just smacked me in the face with a gauntlet. Complete shock and pain.

Just that morning I had been thinking about how wonder life and this
trip is. I was so incredibly happy. Now it doesn't seem real.
This isn't how it's supposed to end!

I don't know what to say.

The ship is almost silent.

Perhaps that's what I should do. Reflect and mourn in silence.
Laughing certainly doesn't seem right, but I have no more tears to shed,
and all of the usual activities don't seem right either.

What should I do?!

What can I do?

Pray and then sleep. Tomorrow can come sooner then. We can have our
memorial then and we will have more answer then.

I guess it's time to go home and hug our loved ones just a little
tighter than usual


Below is a message from Semester at Sea President Les McCabe on the
accident.

http://www.semesteratsea.org/2012/12/01/statement-from-president-les-mccabe-on-death-of-fall-2012-semester-at-sea-participant/