Dr. Megan Needs a Moment
On April 17, 2025, FSU experienced the unimaginable. An active shooter (and FSU student) opened fire in the middle of the day at the busiest location on campus. Two individuals lost their lives along with multiple others suffering injuries. The victims, Robert Moralas and Tiru Chabba, were simply working their typical job that day. Robert Moralas was a former assistant football coach at a local high school. Not only did the FSU and Tallahassee community suffer loss that day, but the coaching community lost one of their own through a senseless tragedy.
I personally was fortunate in that I did not go to campus that day; however, I did have students on campus and in areas very close to the location. FSU immediately locked down the campus, and I was able to text with the students I knew were on campus. They were not released for four hours while law enforcement cleared buildings, and this led to some of them feeling anxious and scared. The immediate aftermath for me involved me checking in with the 70+ students I taught followed by accommodating each student with the University’s grading revisions due to the shooting. It wasn’t until the week after that I was able to slow down and deeply reflect on the situation. I was met with intense sadness, anger, and fatigue. I experienced headaches and found myself in a state of mourning. All of this was a bit surprising to me considering I was not directly involved in the event.
You may be asking, “Why is this a mental moment?” What I want all of you to know is situations can affect us in ways that we aren’t even aware of. It doesn’t matter if it’s a tragedy such as this or something an athlete/parent did or said that cut you deep. And you know what? It’s okay to feel those emotions. It’s okay to sit in those feelings for a little while. Let yourself feel the sadness, the anger, the frustration, the hurt. Then, redirect your energy and attention to the things you can do something about. This may be actions you can take or thoughts you can have. The point being, let yourself feel then redirect to the things you can control. If we fail to feel, all we are doing is feeding those thoughts and emotions, making them stronger, more powerful. And eventually, they will become too big to hold in. So go ahead, feel them. Let them out. Then move forward. I hope none of you ever have to experience what the FSU community experienced two weeks ago, but what I do hope is you will remember people like Coach Moralas and Tiru Chabba, and channel your energy into the things that truly matter most to you. And I promise, the next edition of Mental Moments will get back on track!