Seung-hui Cho and Me

[wannabeXL]

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:

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.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

I was treated like absolute hell in gradeschool, and I can remember when Columbine happened part of me felt like I can understand the pain that would cause hate like that. I can't relate to the one that was a psychopath, as I have empathy and emotion, but I do know what it's like to want to retaliate in a big way against an entire school where I felt helpless. I remember the other people in college with me at the time talking about how horrible those people were, and I was just thinking, these kids were pushed too far and nobody ever does anything about it.

I think the media attention misses the point of these school shootings. It's not a weapons issue, or a parental attention one either- this is about the absolute hell that bullying can cause another person to feel- so much so that some snap completely.

Now this is different for psychopaths, who essentially desire the power and fame from mass killings. But anyone who feels emotion and gets treated like they don't belong, and that they're powerless to do anything about it, is having their entire minds destroyed.

I'm sure a lot of my anxiety and depression stems from that part of my life.

Luckily I had a very good experience in HS and since then had a lot of friends.

I really would have never had it in me to retaliate on the school, but I do remember wanting to so many times.

Retaliation never solves anything though- problems in the school system need to be fixed. Maybe feeling that kind of emotional pain yourself might empower you to help do something about it and make schools better for outcasts. That would be much more effective than looking for retaliation.

I think I stopped hating the kids in my gradeschool so much somewhere around the time I had discovered that one of the most popular kids in the class, somebody who I definitely hated, killed himself. Makes you realize even the people who are making your life hell are sometimes in a hell of their own that you don't know about. I certainly wouldn't want to trade places with that guy anymore.

 

[Van Hooligan X]

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:

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.

if it makes you feel better i thought this topic was about korean food, and how it effects you. so i feel alot weirder then finding out i have a few traits as that killer did. (i'm like heath ledgers joker, so we'll kill together if you wanna )


i feel racist