No big, Justin and I are only responsible for about 84 people's safety.
Just as we got into bed Sunday night we get a text message to stand by we might be going on lockdown and to not let rumors spread. With that vague yet disturbing information we threw on our clothes and proceeded to check on our boys as the message was sent the lockdown had begun. We had to get everyone into their rooms and keep them calm. Which is really hard to do when they say "What is going on?" You reply with "Everything is fine! We just need to make sure everyone is in their rooms to wait for more information" As somebody runs up the stairs and says "Why is there a SWAT team with huge guns all over campus? They told me to go back to my room" We still have no idea what is happening at this point. I say "The authorities are here and they are handling the situation. We just need to make sure everyone is safe in their room to give them further information."
That was a good answer, right? I was super worried and my mind immediately jumped to thoughts of VATech mass murder. It's weird but I felt so relieved that the police were already there and even more relieved when I found out it was a bomb threat. I thought, "I can handle this"
Justin and I kept super cool the whole time. Some of the boys were prone to panic but we were able to keep everyone calm. A few of the boys thanked me for not being super dramatic or overreactive about it. They said it made them feel better. They all kept coming out of their rooms to be with us. It was like playing wack-a-mole.
Eventually, we had to evacuate the building. That was the only part where I was a little stressed. People were trying to gather their things and I had a SWAT team behind me helping me push people along. I was super impressed with the SWAT team. They totally just let me do my job and helped me get everybody out. They came from both end of the hall so the people who did not get woken up by me were a little startled. It was about 1:30am at this point. Everybody ended up in the activities center. When I walked in the adrenaline I was not aware of had worn off and my braxton hicks settled in. My RA's made me get water and sit down and one of my boys got me a chair. They were all worried. I was like "If I go into labor because of this stupid bomb threat I will be so mad". I knew that they were fake though so I was not really worried.
By 3:30am they had our building cleared and we were able to take everyone back and put them to bed. Our RAs and Justin and I had to stay up till lockdown was called off. The RAs told me I had to go to bed and they would handle it. I told them I was not going to go to bed yet at all. I made it till 5am and Justin forced me to bed. Lockdown was called off at 5:30am. Just incase anyone wants to know last I heard they had a lead but no arrests have been made.
It was all very surreal. I have never taken something so seriously yet not been worried at all. Everyone did their job and there was a lot of peace in that for me. I hope the mothers of these boys know how much we worried about their children's safety in those few hours. Talk about stewardship. I feel like you have things you want to experience in life because of who you think it will make you. Like a bucket list. And then you have the things that you never plan for and really shape and build you. I am a huge worry wart but usually do well in a game time situation. I almost felt like I was watching myself and thinking "Wow, you are handling this really well". I am positive I could have handled it better in some ways but I am grateful that I was able to see the effort, love, and care that comes from the administration down through us to the students. I don't think they really understand. I would never have asked to be in that situation (especially being 7 1/2 months pregnant) but I am glad that it was me that got to experience it if someone had to.
