Spring Break
OP-ED: Memories of loss and hope
by Yael Buechler
Op-Ed | 5/22/07
Posted online at 12:36 AM EST on 5/22/07
Having spent much of the past two years in Jerusalem, I can say that memorial services for fallen soldiers are an all-too-common
feature of Israeli society. Israel has hit the mark with their system of organized memorial ceremonies; they certainly know "how to remember."
Most of my Brandeis experience was that of positive personal journey, yet I struggle with how to remember the more devastating moments.
I graduated from Brandeis Sunday, yet my memories here are haunted by the seemingly frequent memorial services for fallen students.
The Brandeis community has had to deal with an unusual amount of death during the past four years. What will never escape my memory is the cold winter evening my freshman year, when hundreds of students piled into Berlin chapel to grieve the loss of their dear friend, a popular fraternity brother and athlete.
I had spent the previous night in New York City, visiting the student's sister and was with her when she received the call about her brother. Returning to Brandeis to be greeted by a packed dining hall of teary-eyed students was my introduction to the tight community here.
I remember sitting in a journalism course a few weeks before this gathering. The professor opened the class by acknowledging that a Brandeis girl who recently died in a boating accident had been a member of the class. I never knew her. But that did not make it any easier for me or for the community.
And then there was last fall, when I again sat in Berlin chapel, a few rows behind the parents of a Brandeis alumna who had taken her own life.
I returned to campus a week ago from Jerusalem. My first week in the United States and my last week of my undergraduate career was marked by a memorial service for a student who committed suicide just days after finals.
I was touched by the words of a professor, who fondly remembered the casual conversations she had with the student over coffee and tea. The conversations she mentioned are the kinds of connections that I would like to remember.
Graduation is a time of joy and celebration. Yet, in the midst of reveling in our accomplishments, we must pause to remember those who will never attend a graduation.
May our Brandeis community remember each of their lives and may we find ways to comfort one another after such losses and find new strategies that may prevent such tragedies from occurring.
It is my hope that the Brandeis community continues to be supportive of one another in times of happiness and in times of loss. That is the Brandeis I want to remember.
The writer is a member of the Class of 2007.
feature of Israeli society. Israel has hit the mark with their system of organized memorial ceremonies; they certainly know "how to remember."
Most of my Brandeis experience was that of positive personal journey, yet I struggle with how to remember the more devastating moments.
I graduated from Brandeis Sunday, yet my memories here are haunted by the seemingly frequent memorial services for fallen students.
The Brandeis community has had to deal with an unusual amount of death during the past four years. What will never escape my memory is the cold winter evening my freshman year, when hundreds of students piled into Berlin chapel to grieve the loss of their dear friend, a popular fraternity brother and athlete.
I had spent the previous night in New York City, visiting the student's sister and was with her when she received the call about her brother. Returning to Brandeis to be greeted by a packed dining hall of teary-eyed students was my introduction to the tight community here.
I remember sitting in a journalism course a few weeks before this gathering. The professor opened the class by acknowledging that a Brandeis girl who recently died in a boating accident had been a member of the class. I never knew her. But that did not make it any easier for me or for the community.
And then there was last fall, when I again sat in Berlin chapel, a few rows behind the parents of a Brandeis alumna who had taken her own life.
I returned to campus a week ago from Jerusalem. My first week in the United States and my last week of my undergraduate career was marked by a memorial service for a student who committed suicide just days after finals.
I was touched by the words of a professor, who fondly remembered the casual conversations she had with the student over coffee and tea. The conversations she mentioned are the kinds of connections that I would like to remember.
Graduation is a time of joy and celebration. Yet, in the midst of reveling in our accomplishments, we must pause to remember those who will never attend a graduation.
May our Brandeis community remember each of their lives and may we find ways to comfort one another after such losses and find new strategies that may prevent such tragedies from occurring.
It is my hope that the Brandeis community continues to be supportive of one another in times of happiness and in times of loss. That is the Brandeis I want to remember.
The writer is a member of the Class of 2007.
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