'I decided to just keep going on with it'

By Dave Hohle Sentinel staff

In the days and weeks following September 11, college freshman Brett Fletcher-McGookin came to view the terrorist attacks as attempts to engender fear and insecurity. And she decided to try to not play into it. "Different people had very different ways of dealing with it," she says. "I really just figured that the terrorists were trying to say, 'Feel uncomfortable. Feel insecure in a place that you feel is all about God and good and security.' And so I just tried to really live my life through loving, and not let myself get scared or plugged into that terror."

Brett appreciates the support the students received from their school and from each other. She remembers, "The president of the college called an all-campus meeting, and we all gathered in Cox Auditorium. Ideas were shared, and we had some time to just sit there and pray. For ten minutes, everyone was silent. And it was the coolest thing. I think a lot of people got a whole lot of inspiration out of that, because the whole room—even though it was silent—was just filled. You know what I mean? It just gave people strength. And I think that experience and having that feeling gave them a kind of knowledge that what they were doing was effective."

A conversation she had with her mom was helpful to Brett. "I think it was probably after I talked to my mother that I had a better grasp of what I was thinking," she recalls, "because when I first heard about what had happened, it was just shocking. Mom pointed out that I should be alert to the mental attacks, and not just the physical ones.

When I got to think about it, I knew I wanted to go on with a steady, normal way of living. I didn't want to let my life just change and be completely reversed or backtracked at all. I decided that what I really wanted to do was just love. And so, I just really tried to lead my life as it was. To just keep going on with it."

Brett attributes her ability to stay focused over the past few months to that decision she made to love. "I think it was strengthening to me," she says, "because once I made my decision—that I was not going to get all involved in it, and that instead I was going to stand back and love — that helped me. You know, once you make a decision, it's less easy to get sidetracked. And once you've formed your decision, it allows you to feel a lot freer. So I think it had a good influence on me — that I made that decision, especially so early on."

In the face of intolerance and hatred, it is Brett's natural inclination to stay with love. How? "What I try to do," she says, "is to see the innocence that I hold, and the innocence of the person who holds that hatred toward me. It's really basic. Jesus taught a lot about forgiveness, and he demonstrated it himself. And so, I think that with intolerance and everything else, the most important thing is this kind of loving. It's really about forgetting yourself, and just loving. And that's what's going to pull everyone through hatred."

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Kate and Leopold ... and Russell

January 28, 2002

Contents

We'd love to hear from you!

Easily submit your testimonies, articles, and poems online.

Submit