Posted by Helen on: 04.19.2007 /
I heard Lauren Bohn on The Story yesterday – here’s the podcast.
Lauren was at Columbine High School when the shootings occurred. She wasn’t hurt but some of her friends died. She spoke on the radio about what it was like at Columbine dealing with the loss and also all the media attention.
Lauren talked about going to help at Red Lake school when there was a shooting there. When the students heard there was someone who had been through Columbine there, they didn’t want to talk to the professional counselors. They wanted to talk to her because she’d been through it and knew what it was like.
Now Lauren is going to Virginia Tech to help counsel students there. Lauren’s experience has shaped the direction of her life: according to her website “Lauren has made it a personal conviction to share her story in hopes of preventing another shooting from taking place.
Lauren is a conservative Christian. Some Christians are so pushy about their faith that I would feel uncomfortable about them insensitively trying to manipulate people in the midst of grief. But I didn’t feel that way about Lauren. Her compassion and her desire to help people by connecting through a shared painful experience came across strongly in the interview and impressed me. She didn’t hide her faith on the radio but I felt like she was appropriately aware that she was being interviewed on public radio, not asked to give her Christian testimony.
I think it’s wonderful that she cares and wants to help. As of the interview time, her first priority was finding available seats on a plane to Virginia (which is not easy this week), so she could be there with the students, as someone who really does understand.