Life is a precious thing, and sometimes it takes death to realize that.
On July 21, a beautiful life was, tragically, taken from one of our very own San Diego State University students. According to NBC 7, Clare Orton was killed by Scott Bertics in an apparent murder-suicide.
According to NBC 7, Police said Bertics, who had a previous relationship with Orton, allegedly shot her and then took his own life.
The two were found dead from gunshot wounds that evening in Orton’s home in Northern California.
Clare was only 19. She had such a promising life ahead of her, and now it’s gone. The years of laughter-filled moments and joyful memories with loved ones, the feat of graduating college and earning a job, the opportunity to start a family—all stripped from her at such a young age. She had just completed her first year as an honors student, studying environmental engineering. She was also a member of the Society of Women Engineers. Clare was clearly an intelligent, hardworking girl with great ambition.
SDSU Vice President of Student Affairs, Eric Rivera, issued this statement regarding her passing:
"The entire university community is saddened by the passing of Clare, a bright and promising student who had already made an impact on the SDSU campus in her first year of being an Aztec. The loss of any young life is heartbreaking and we send our heartfelt thoughts to her family during this difficult time.”
While I never knew her personally, I did live in the same dorm as her during my freshman year and, therefore, I know certain people who were friends with her. The memories that these people shared with her were all positive and uplifting, and it is an extremely sad realization that these memories together will be their last.
Earlier this past school year, two other lives of SDSU students were tragically lost. Sara Stelzer, 18, died from meningococcal meningitis. Melissa Kennon,19, died after falling nearly 60 feet from the roof of an apartment complex near campus. It was absolutely shocking and heartbreaking during both of these previous circumstances, and it is nothing less in yet another occurrence with Clare’s death.
For some, the news of at least one of these girls’ deaths has brought a serious emotional turmoil and mourning for the loss of someone who was important to them. For others, admittedly myself, a disconnection from a personal relationship with any of them has made the news less heavy than I believe it should be. Yes, there may be an immediate sympathy for the incident at hand, but it stops soon after. Once a new topic is introduced and you become distracted by something else, it can be easy to brush aside your initial feelings of sorrow. Days pass, and what once originally shocked and pained you quickly turns into something that simply happened. While it’s still sad, it carries a lot less weight now. But it shouldn’t.
It tugs at my heart to see girls just like me lose their lives unexpectedly. There are no answers as to why I get to keep living while they do not, and there is no real fairness to the situation. What I can do is learn from each one, allowing them to open up a new perspective on life. Realizing how I could die at any moment may be morbid, but it also allows me to appreciate everything so much more. Waking up early for a morning shift suddenly doesn’t seem that bad anymore. My dad’s welcoming bear hugs become that much more special.
We are fortunate enough to be here today but that is, sadly, not the case for everyone. I hope that we can learn from the amazing lives that have passed, allowing them to be a constant reminder to us.
Life truly is beautiful, so don’t take it for granted.
