Friday, April 13th, 2012 -- 10:50PM
This post will be dedicated to what is easily the most memorable experience of my study abroad. I'll skip over Bregenz, Austria and Berlin, Germany for the time being.
J.J. Stinson, "John Benson Stinson Jr. minus the B.S." as he would say was born on March 22, 1992. From Alexandria, Virginia, J.J. went to high school at Bishop Ireton. In the Fall of 2010, J.J. joined the Virginia Tech community. He studied philosophy and was an active member of the Newman Community, the Catholic Campus Ministry at Virginia Tech. In his Spring semester of sophomore year at Virginia Tech, J.J. joined a group of thirty honors students to study abroad in Switzerland under the Presidential Global Scholars program. There they studied alongside seventeen architecture students and nine distinguished professors. J.J. was found to have passed away on April 11, 2012.
We were in Berlin, on Tuesday, when we were notified that he was missing. We were all worried but had faith that JJ knew what he was doing and was very capable of returning to the villa safely. We all just hoped it was some big misunderstanding.
It was around 11PM on April 11th, 2012. Most of us were sitting at the hostel bar drinking some beers with plans to go to a club soon. I had picked up these crazy looking airplane bottles from the Kaiser grocery store. People wanted me to try one so I convinced Blake to do it with me. We linked arms, naturally, and took the shot. It was a high moment of the night that quickly turned to probably the lowest moment of my life. Paola walked into the circle and asked if we could all meet. I’ve never felt my heart sink so hard. I think we all knew, subconsciously, what was about to be said. We all moved outside to the front plaza of the hostel. The words will be forever engraved in my memory. Paola said, “I just got off of the phone with Daniela, and they found JJ…” she paused for what felt like an eternity. With every millisecond that passed, my heart raced faster and faster. There was no smile on Paola’s face. I looked at her eyes beyond her seeing-glasses and could see the water built up. See repeated, “well, they found JJ.” Multiple gasps expelled from the group. A couple people brought their hands to their faces. Some people embraced the ones adjacent. I remember latching onto Lisa, on my left, with my left arm and covering my mouth with my right. Paola went on to explain the details of where JJ was found and that he didn’t appear to have any suffering or foul play. The initial thought was hypothermia. She went on to discuss what our next plans would be, but I couldn’t focus. My mind was running wild as tears began to stream down my face. Once Paola was finished speaking, we attempted to collect ourselves and finish hugging each other. The only thing I could think to do was find some way to call my mom and dad. I couldn’t stop thinking about the devastation news like that would bring to his parents. I rushed inside to find my phone at the bar and clean up our area quickly. I rushed up to my room and logged into the internet which I luckily already had purchased. I immediately connected to Google Voice and called home. I could barely even speak because of my hysteria. Dad picked up and I asked if he could put Mom on too. They were already aware that JJ was missing but I assume it was a very alarming phone call to receive hearing me cry.
JJ was an incredible human being. He just turned 20 a couple weeks ago and I remember giving him a hard time because of how young he was. Though he was so young, he had already accomplished so much and touched so many people's lives. JJ was always known to ask the incredible difficult, philosophical questions at the lunch and dinner table. I frequently sat near him and would barely be able to eat my meal because he would ask me so many questions. He was genuinely interested in the answers and conversations that would steam from his profound questions.
I will always remember the first day I met JJ. We were sitting at the lunch table on the first day of classes. As I attempted to eat my salad and meal, he says, "so Jacob...," the name in which he read from my napkin envelope, "I'm putting you on the spot. Tell Me Three Things You Love About Yourself. What makes you, you?” ; an answer that is much more difficult to answer than you would think. JJ was full of these types of questions. As a psychology major he loved to ask people the difficult questions, especially the ones that made you think about who you are, why you are that way, and why you like the person that you are. He found joy in listening to others have love for life. And when people avoided these questions, as someone would do naturally on the hot seat (I know I did), he wouldn't forget. He would keep asking until you answered the three things you love about yourself, or why you chose your major, or what makes you different from everyone else. JJ was never afraid or uncomfortable to befriend and talk to someone new. He had stock questions in which he was legitimately interested. There would never be a dull moment in conversation when he was around. JJ also wasn’t ever afraid to crack jokes. He would bust people's chops to then apologize and have an excuse to tell them how much he loves them.
We returned to the Villa the next night (Thursday) as planned. Our flight didn't land until 10:30pm and we didn't make it back to the villa until a little after midnight. The honors students waited up for us, so we could all partake in a memorial ceremony. I knew it would be tough getting back to the villa but I even hesitated walking through the doors. Some of the honor students had a great idea of buying a large candle that we can keep lit out in the garden for the remainder of our time here, in honor of JJ. We all circled around the stone picnic table about 20 steps into the garden from the villa. It was raining but we were lightly canopied by nearby trees. The students had set up the large candle in a glass container to catch the wax and stacked some bricks to prop a wire trashcan upside-down over the flame to protect it from the rainwater. This ceremony took a lot out of me. Things were really brought to reality being back in the villa and not having JJ by my side. People tapered away slowly to retreat to the villa.
JJ was also in love with music. He had his guitar with him and played it almost every night. He loved to sing to absolutely everything, from show tunes, to Lady Gaga, to oldies. He brought so much energy and positivity to the villa even in the most stressful times.
Today, we all collectively spent the day creating memory albums to send to his family. I was struggling pretty hard until we all started brainstorming ideas for cards, videos, etc. Things suddenly started becoming easier to handle. I began writing a lot about JJ to just get my thoughts out on paper. I can't help but smile while thinking about the great things he has taught me in these last couple of months. He will always remind me to love life and love everything I am doing in life; To love the people surrounding me and the ones far from me; To live life with a positive attitude and to relay that positive attitude to others. Though he will be sorely missed, his spirit will forever live within the Riva Spring 2012 family.
JJ, your love of others was and will always be infectious. We miss you so much already, but we know you are in a better place now. I can never be more grateful for having the opportunity to meet you and spend the past couple of months with you. I love you.
