wannabeXL
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Remember the crazy VT Korean killer? I stumbled upon this Wikipedia article and I was amazed by the similarities between Seung-hui Cho and me. Lo and behold:
It's bizarre how his biography reminds me so much of my own. It makes me wonder if anyone who knew me in elementary school, middle school, and high school thought about me when they heard of his story, and what kind of thoughts about me exactly that they had. Mostly, though, I just sympathize with Seung-hui Cho like no one else does.
Cho studied at Poplar Tree Elementary School in Chantilly, an unincorporated, small community in Fairfax County. According to Kim Gyeong-won, who met Cho in the fifth grade and took classes with him,[19] Cho finished the three-year program at Poplar Tree Elementary School in one and a half years. Cho was noted for being good at mathematics and English, and teachers pointed to him as an example for other students.[20] At that time, according to Kim, nobody disliked Cho and he "was recognized by friends as a boy of knowledge;... a good dresser who was popular with the girls." Kim added that "I only have good memories about him."[19][20] An acquaintance noted that "Every time he came home from school he would cry and throw tantrums saying he never wanted to return to school" when Cho first came to America in about the second grade.[21]
Cho attended secondary schools in Fairfax County, including Stone Middle School in Centreville[17] and Westfield High School in Chantilly,[7] and by eighth grade had been diagnosed with selective mutism, a social anxiety disorder which inhibited him from speaking.[22]
During Cho's time in middle school and high school, he was teased for his shyness and unusual speech patterns. Some classmates even offered dollar bills to Cho just to hear him talk.[17] According to Chris Davids, a high school classmate in Cho's English class at Westfield High School, Cho looked down and refused to speak when called upon. Davids added that, after one teacher threatened to give Cho a failing grade for not participating in class, he began reading in a strange, deep voice that sounded "like he had something in his mouth. […] The whole class started laughing and pointing and saying, 'Go back to China.'" Another classmate, Stephanie Roberts, stated that "there were just some people who were really cruel to him, and they would push him down and laugh at him. He didn't speak English really well, and they would really make fun of him."[23] Cho was also teased as the "trombone kid" for his practice of walking to school alone with his trombone. Other students recall crueler names and that most of the bullying was because he was alone.[24] Christopher Chomchird and Carmen Blandon, former classmates of Cho, stated that they heard rumors of a "hit list" of other students Cho wanted to kill. Blandon stated that she saw the "list" as a joke at the time.[25] While several students recalled instances of Cho being teased and mocked at Westfield, most left him alone and later said they were not aware of his anger.[26][27] Cho graduated from Westfield High School in 2003.[4]
It's bizarre how his biography reminds me so much of my own. It makes me wonder if anyone who knew me in elementary school, middle school, and high school thought about me when they heard of his story, and what kind of thoughts about me exactly that they had. Mostly, though, I just sympathize with Seung-hui Cho like no one else does.