Challenger

Sometimes events happen that you know almost instantly are going to be historical in nature and not in a good way. The Challenger tragedy was one of those.

I remember where I was when it happened. I was in my freshman English class and our teacher was called out of the room by the teacher across the hall. When she came back in, she was fighting tears. She told us what had happened and then turned on a TV so we could watch the news coverage. What a horrible sick feeling in the pit of my stomach I had as we watched the short 2 minute launch video that was shown over and over.

My eighth grade teacher and neighbor, Mr. Miller, had applied to be the teacher on that flight and had actually made it fairly far into the process before getting cut. I couldn't help but be grateful that he hadn't been chosen. But what a horrible thing for Christa McAuliffe's class, school, and family to have to witness. It was a stark reminder of just how quickly life can change. She made history for being the first teacher to go on a shuttle mission but certainly not in the way anyone anticipated.

It was no less a loss for NASA and the families of the other 6 crew members. Sometimes it seems they are minimized because there happened to be a civilian on board, as if somehow it was more tragic for her to be lost than any of them. Even now, 25 years later, most of the stories focus on Christa McAuliffe. It makes me sad for those other families.

It was an incident that I will remember the rest of my life. I guess if there is a lesson to be learned from what happened that day, it is to never take anything in life for granted and be thankful for every day we are given with our family and friends because it can all change in an instant. It is also a good reminder that sometimes things that seem hugely disappointing at the time can be a blessing in disguise that we won't realize until after the fact...imagine how all the people who applied but were not chosen to go into space felt as it sunk in that it could have been them. Tragic though it was, if we can learn these lessons from what happened, then maybe that can be the good that came out of it.