Trisha Hongcharti
4th Period
Ms. Turner
THE SEASON
~
FOREVER CHANGED
(WE’RE ALL HOKIES TODAY)
Lyrics
 On just an ordinary day,
A weapon drawn, and lives forever changed
One act of violence __made the world stop and watch
As on a drillfield by candlelight we prayed
 With questions on our minds, we wonder where the
future lies
So we look up to heaven with hope in our eyes
 Where do we go from here
Can we overcome this fear
And find a healing for the pain, and see the
sun beyond the rain
 We've got the strength to endure,
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world filled with hate, we’ve got to
become something great
Oh God, send your mercy this way, for we're
all Hokies today
Verse 2:
And to the ones who fell that day
In our hearts your love will never fade away
We're picking up the pieces to build a better tomorrow
We'll find a joy, yes, to move on from the sorrow
By the color of the leaves, you know God has us on his mind
So we look up to heaven with hope in our eyes
• Where do we go from here
Can we overcome this fear
And find a healing for the pain, and see the sun beyond
the rain
We've got the strength to endure,
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world full of hate, we’ve got to become something
great
Oh God, send your mercy this way, for we're all Hokies
today
 The spirit lives on, don't let it be gone,
let it shine forever
And through the heartbreak, for the lost
and their sakes, let it bring us together
 Where do we go from here
Can we overcome this fear
And find a healing for the pain, and see the sun
beyond the rain
 We've got the strength to endure,
And soon we'll feel more secure
In a world full of hate, we’ve got to become
something great
Oh God, send your mercy this way, for we're all
Hokies today
Works Cited
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Parks, Kurtis, et al. "The Season." MySpace. News Corporation, 18 May 2010. Web.
19 May 2010. <http://www.theseasononline.com/>.
"All American: Glossary of Literary Terms." UNCP Canada. The University of North
Carolina at Pembroke, 1 May 2009. Web. 25 May 2010.
<http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/allam/general/glossary.htm>.
Parks, Kurtis. "Kurtis Parks." MySpace. News Corporation, 27 May 2010. Web. 29
May 2010. <http://www.kurtisparks.com/>.
Tyler, Skip. "Lyrics for 'Forever Changed VT Memorial.'" Skip Tyler's Web Page.
Mr. Tyler Enterprises, Inc. , 2004. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/varina/tyler_e/vt/
vtforeverchanged.html>.
Tyler, Skip. "We Are Virginia Tech!" Skip Tyler's Web Page. Mr. Tyler
Enterprises, Inc., 2004. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://teachers.henrico.k12.va.us/varina/tyler_e/vt/indexvt.html>.
"pun." Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Incorporated , 2010.
Web. 29 May 2010. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pun>.
Jones, Beth. "Roanoke-area guys sing their way through 'Idol' land." The Roanoke
Times. Times-World Corporation, 2010. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke%5C17050.html>.
Berrier, Ralph, Jr. "Songs of healing." The Roanoke Times. Times-World
Corporation, 2010. Web. 29 May 2010. <http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/
116406>.
Nizza, Mike. "Seung-Hui Cho: Who Is This Man?" The Lede. The New York Times
Company, 2010. Web. 29 May 2010. <http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/
08/30/seung-hui-cho-who-is-this-man/>.
Works Cited (Cont.)
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"A Day of Remembrance: April 16, 2008 ." Virginia Tech We Remember. Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, 2007. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://www.remembrance.vt.edu/2007/>.
"Virginia Tech Wesley Foundation offers safety, solace." United Methodist
Church. United Methodist Communications, 2006-2009. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://www.umc.org/site/apps/nlnet/
content3.aspx?c=lwL4KnN1LtH&b=2701525&ct=3777521>.
Moxley, Tonia. "VT shooting victim: 'More than a survivor.'" The Roanoke Times.
Times-World Corporation, 2010. Web. 29 May 2010. <http://www.roanoke.com/
246602>.
Hutkin, Erinn. "Liviu Librescu: Holocaust survivor blocked shooter, letting
students flee." The Roanoke Times. Times-World Corporation, 2010. Web. 29
May 2010. <http://www.roanoke.com/vtvictims/wb/113497>.
"Forever Changed (We're All Hokies Today) - Single." iTunes. Apple Inc., 2010.
Web. 29 May 2010. <http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/
forever-changed-were-all-hokies/id257371129>.
Fantz, Ashley, and Jeanne Meserve. "Witness survives by pretending to be dead."
CNN. Cable News Network., 2007. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html>.
Bosch, Torie. "Thirty-Two Victims, Two Guns?" Slate. Washington Post.Newsweek
Interactive Co. LLC, 2010. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://www.slate.com/id/
2164379>.
McConnell, Ryan. "'Let's go, Hokies' is much more than a simple three-word
chant." Collegiate Times. Educational Media Company at Virginia Tech Inc.,
2010. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/11211/
lets-go-hokies-is-much-more-than-a-simple-three-word-chant>.
Works Cited (Cont.)
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Cramer, John. "Virginia Tech shooting victims." The Roanoke Times. Times-World
Corporation, 2010. Web. 29 May 2010. <http://www.roanoke.com/vtvictims/
wb/113454>.
 Griffin, Drew, et al. "Campus killer's purchases apparently within gun laws."
CNN. Cable News Network., 2007. Web. 29 May 2010.
<http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/19/gun.laws/index.html>.
 Lagorio, Christine. "List Of Virginia Tech Shooting Victims." CBS News. CBS
Interactive Inc., 2010. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://www.cbsnews.com/
stories/2007/04/17/virginiatechshooting/main2693354.shtml>.
 The Associated Press. "Virginia Tech Massacre: The Victims." Fox News. FOX News
Network, LLC., 2010. Web. 30 May 2010. <http://www.foxnews.com/story/
0,2933,266466,00.html>.
 Lazenby, Roland, et al. April 16th: Virginia Tech Remembers. New York: PLUME,
2007. N. pag. Print.
(Don’t worry, Mrs. T, I used Wikipedia for pictures!)
 "Virginia Tech massacre." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., 29 May 2010.
Web. 29 May 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Virginia_Tech_massacre>.
Biography

If you always do what you’ve
always done, you’ll always be
what you’ve always been.
-The Season’s Motto
The Season was created in 2002 and is currently
comprised of Kurtis Parks, Josh Kim, Jason Jolly, and
Jordan Metzger. Kurtis Parks is the lead singer and
pianist and a Glenvar High School graduate. He
graduated from VT in 2004 with a finance degree
and is originally from Southwest Virginia. He
competed in American Idol’s Season 4 and made it
into the Top 50 finalists. Josh Kim from Russellville,
Arkansas plays lead guitar and does backup vocals.
Also a VT alumni, he was a computer science major.
These two worked on the lyrics to “Forever Changed”
the day after the shooting. Soon after, they recruited
drummer Jason Jolly (also from Josh Kim’s
hometown) to record the song. Their most recent
member, Jordan Metzger, is a bassist (Parks et al.).
Learn about the lead singer
Back
Check out The Season online!
Kurtis Parks
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Read about the song
Check out Kurtis Parks online!
Find out more about Kurtis Parks
Just an ordinary Monday
 “In the end, they shared a common fate: Lives cut short
on a spring morning when a cold wind filled with
snowflakes and tree blossoms formed the backdrop for
the deadliest shooting rampage in the nation’s history”John Cramer (Cramer).
Learn about who
these victims
were before they
were victims
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Candlelight Vigil
Thousands of people gathered after
sunset around 8:oo PM, on the campus drill
field for the candlelight vigil on April 17,
2007. This was held in memory of the 32
lives lost in the Virginia Tech massacre. As
each victim’s name was called, a candle was
lit. Thousands of candles were held by the
attendees as they mourned for the lost.
Music was played and speeches were made.
To commemorate and end the memorial, the
bell was sounded 32 times. Though the
ceremony was “over”, they never stopped
praying, but simply raised their candles
higher. As a single voice called out “Let’s go…”
thousands of voices returned with “Hokies!”
(McConnell).
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The Weapons
Learn about these weapons
Glock 9 mm
semiautomatic handgun
.22-caliber pistol
 "Virginia has one of the easiest gun qualification laws in the
whole United States,“-Criminal defense attorney, Daniel
Gotlin (Griffin et al.). How he obtained them
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Learn about who
these victims
were before they
were victims
Learn about their
families
Back to lyrics To the ones who fell that day
Back to lyrics For the lost and their sakes
Lives Forever Changed
Whether a victim, wounded, or witness, thousands of lives were forever changed
 "It takes away things from how you can live your life. It just
changes everything.“-Heidi Miller (Moxley).
Learn about Heidi Miller's story
 “I don’t think I would be here if it wasn’t for him.”-Caroline
Merrey (Hutkin).
Learn about Liviu Librescu's heroic actions
Back to lyrics
Act of Violence
Seung-Hui Cho, a South Korean college senior, killed 32 people
in two separate attacks at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.
He killed the first two at West Ambler Johnston Hall. Two hours
later he invaded Norris Hall to finish his killings before
committing suicide. The hiatus between the shootings consisted
of the perpetrator sending NBC news evidence of his intended
actions. Though only 32 died (33 counting Cho), 25 were injured
as well. This was the deadliest shooting incident by one person in
the history of the United States (Lazenby et al.).
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Read about a witness's account
of the shooting who survived
by pretending to be dead
We can build a better
tomorrow; you can help
How the universities are helping
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How the church is helping
Metaphor
 a type of figurative language in which a statement is made that says that one
thing is something else but, literally, it is not ("All American: Glossary").
 By comparing two unrelated objects, this gives the reader a new
perspective/understanding for the items being compared
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Pun
 the usually humorous use of a word in such a way as to
suggest two or more of its meanings or the meaning of
another word similar in sound("Pun").
 This could be a play on words, as color of the leaves
could represent the changing of the seasons in
reference to the band’s name
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Slant Rhyme
 Instead of perfect or identical sounds or rhyme, it is the repetition of
near or similar sounds or the pairing of accented and unaccented
sounds that if both were accented would be perfect rhymes ("All
American: Glossary").
 By not allowing the reader to predict or expect what is coming slant
rhyme allows the poet to express things in different or certain ways
("All American: Glossary").
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Allusion
 A reference in a literary work to a person, place, or
thing in history or another work of literature ("All
American: Glossary").
 Allusions are often indirect or brief references to well-
known characters or events ("All American:
Glossary").
 Here the author is alluding to/speaking to God
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Hyperbole
 An extravagant exaggeration
 In literature and poetry, used for emphasis on a person’s
opinions/emotions/mental state.
 Used to increase the effect of a description, whether it is metaphoric or
comic ("All American: Glossary").
 Both are metaphoric hyperboles with the description being dramatized
Back to lyrics Made the world stop and watch
Back to lyrics In a world filled with hate
Couplet
 Is a style of poetry defined as a complete thought written in two lines
with rhyming ends ("All American: Glossary").
 This particular couplet has 7 syllables each line
 This rhyming couplet has an AABB (CCDD…) rhyme scheme
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