It's times like these when rivalries must be set aside and our hands be extended to our fellow Big Ten school down south. On behalf the Boilermakers, our hearts go out to the family and friends of the victim and to the IU community as a whole. Such experiences are all too familiar on our campus as well, with the tragic death of Andrew Bolt last year, and I know I remember reading kind words from the Hoosiers during our tougher times. While under unfortunate circumstances, it's also a pleasant thing to see the mutual respect our schools have for each other.

By now I'm sure you've heard that during IU's Little 500 week, the body of 22-year-old Hannah Wilson was found in Brown County after going missing for less than 24 hours. She had apparently left a bar early in the morning on Friday and gotten into what was thought at the time to be a taxi cab. No one saw her again until her body was discovered, having suffered severe blunt force trauma to the head.

Now, with the unfortunate truths out of the way, there is a lesson to be learned. I won't harp on the things you should and should not do. You know when you're being irresponsible and, conversely, when you are making smart choices. What I want to talk about is the harsh reality of life: it's fragile. In college, we often embrace an invincible mentality and live out our lives under the assumption that nothing bad is going to happen to us. It's times like these that remind us this simply isn't the case. Hopefully, we can learn to take life more seriously and prevent tragedies like this in the future.

I'm not saying don't go out with your friends and have a crazy time, I'm just saying do so with the knowledge that this day could be your last, or the last of a dear friend. Out of context, this may sound paranoid and alarmist, and I get that. But in the context of a recently murdered college student, I think we can all see how real the possibility is. Hannah Wilson surely didn't think that night would be her last. But it was, and that's the reality of it.

With that said, this is also a reminder for us to look out for each other. Not just your friends, but everyone. It pains us all to know that we live in a world where people are actually killing each other for any number of reasons. In a world that harbors such senseless hate, I hope that even though we are but a small community amongst the rest of society, we can take care of each other and love each other. Regardless of our differences, we are all part of this community and we need to have each other's backs.