On August 2, Karina Vetrano was sexually assaulted and strangled while jogging along a lonely stretch of undeveloped marshlands in Queens, New York. That's how much the general public knows at the time of publication. A widely unknown portion of this case, however, lies in Ms. Vetrano's writings, documented on her website, entitled "A Collection of Conversations, Contradictions, & Poetic Conflicts."

Vetrano used this online journal as an outlet for her deepest emotions as they related to the events of her life. As she eloquently wrote in her introduction to the blog, "this is my life, through my eyes ... It’s chaotic, and unpredictable, but I do believe that on some days, it’s quite beautiful, in all its poetic little tragedies." In her posts, Vetrano explored topics ranging from the murders of Charles Manson to blissful love, even discussing an incident in which she was raped. She demonstrated a belief that she was to die young, spelling out the blunt fact that "we have a limited time here." "There were mornings that we’re meant to wake up in each other’s arms ... but those moments will never happen; the pages won’t be written,” wrote Vetrano, “and our story comes to an end.”

What I took out of Vetrano's writings was not what the few mainstream media sites pieced together, that she predicted her own death, because I believe that this is a bunch of malarkey; as young women living in a world where tragedies like Vetrano's are far too commonplace, many of us grow to accept the fact that this could happen to one of us; even some of my most secure friends can imagine themselves dying young. This is a horrible, unjust reality, but it is something that women have to deal with every day. This is not the case of a young woman predicting her own early death; this is a young woman, aware that the odds are not in her favor, asking for a world in which words such as fear and uncertainty are not the focus of a woman's journal.

It is clearly demonstrated through her writings that Vetrano understood the innate dangers of being a woman, that the media often ignores; she, herself was a survivor of one of the most traumatic events that could occur in one's life. She also grasped, however, the fact that life is full of little tragedies, ones that we, as a society cannot even begin to comprehend. "All these intangible things," she wrote in a poem titled "Idle Hands & Heavy Heart," "that I can’t grasp with these two, small hands or with this one, big heart…notions and concepts that I can’t escape, “destiny” and “fate” and “what’s meant to be…” it all means so much to this unsettled mind."

At this time, my mind is also unsettled. I cannot even begin to comprehend how someone could do something this malicious to another. From reading through Vetrano's pieces of writing, however, I see something special, something that somehow puts my cynical mind to rest for a little while. Vetrano was an incredible writer, yet she led a blog that barely reached readers before her death. Here I am, with the opportunity to reach even more people and touch even more lives, and I am not half the writer Vetrano was. At this time, I am going to shut up and let Vetrano's words speak for themselves, reminding us that although the world is, largely, one huge question mark, joy and hope can, and will, prevail in the end. The world can be ugly, but it has its moments. This is a particularly beautiful poem of hers, entitled "Enigma."

"I feel it all around me;

it surrounds me.

the ground

below me

& the clear atmosphere-

it’s all encompassing.

swarming,

warming,

enwrapping,

and entrapping me

with earthly beauty.

I feel it penetrate through my pupils,

sending messages

to my cortex;

infesting it;

digesting it.

the sight

of life-

I'm getting it

head on.

it hits me hard,

dead on,

into my heart.

it’s all so beautiful,

so unbelievable,

so truthful,

so inconceivable.

I didn’t have to pay-

it’s a total free expense.

it’s just another day

with trivial events.

but the birds really do sing,

the sun really does shine;

the world really is mine."

New evidence shows that Vetrano put up a "ferocious" fight right until the end of her life, as New York City's Chief of Detectives described. Her mother, Cathy Vetrano, remembers her daughter as "a force to be reckoned with." Vetrano's fight constitutes what she penned in her journal; no matter how many odds are stacked against you, you can, and you will, fight for your own life, love, and happiness. This is how she should be remembered; not by her unfortunate death, but by her central message that one's life is worth fighting for.

**UPDATE: Since the initial composition of this article, another woman has been killed in what appears to be a similar homicide. The remains of 27-year-old Vanessa Marcotte was found in Princeton, Massachusetts, on Sunday. While we know even less about this case than we do about that of Karina Vetrano, the shockingly transient amount of time between the two homicides indicates a trend worthy of looking into on a global scale. Thoughts and prayers are with the friends and family of both women at this difficult time.