The people at NIU who organized the huge volunteer counselor effort that took place this week to ease the NIU students' transition back to class urged us not to share too much about what took place over these 2 days. Confidentiality is not a hard request to make to a room full of licensed counselors. Honoring that request means that I cannot share much of what took place while I was in DeKalb this week.
What I can tell you is that the students were stoic and kind - midwesterners through and through. The campus was full but seemed quiet. And that people were really supporting one another. I was really glad I was there. Especially after I ran into a group of young men just finishing a class in the theater building who came up to me one-by-one and either hugged me or shook my hand saying, "Thank you so much for coming here for us." I had not been one of the counselors in their classes, but they had taken the time to express that appreciation for all of the help that had shown up on campus in droves Sunday afternoon.
The fact that counselors showed up to support these kids was not what was special about the last 2 days. What was special was how the NIU community supported one another, loved one another, and began to move forward together.
