NIU Northern Star / UWireWhen Stephanie Triggiani passed classmate Gayle Dubowski in the hallways throughout high school in Carol Stream, IL, she could never have known what college would bring to each of them.
Both had to decide whether to follow many of their classmates in attending the local Northern Illinois University. Triggiani declined, and instead opted for sunny Florida and the University of Tampa. Dubowsky, on the other hand, chose NIU, where she was killed along with four of her classmates in a tragic school shooting last Thursday.
Stephanie and Gayle did not know each other very well. After all, Glenbard North High School was your typical high school, according to Stephanie, with a lot of cliques and groups; the two students simply hung out with different crowds.
Aside from being troubled by the occasional fight or scandal, Stephanie recalls Glenbard North as being a friendly place. It was slightly overcrowded, but not enough to prevent strangers from smiling at each other in the hallways, an encounter that Stephanie and Gayle experienced a few times.
Yet Glenbard North also had a dark side, described by some locals as a “curse,” which is unusual to most high schools of its sort. Stephanie remembers how a student died every year at Glenbard North. It’s “kinda weird to think about,” she said, “but after Gayle’s death it seems like it is still happening.”
Aside from her quiet smile during brief hallway encounters, Stephanie never got to know Gayle, another one of her classmates who would be taken well before her time. According to the Daily Herald, Carol Stream’s local paper, Stephanie missed out on a friend for life.
Gayle, described by the Daily Herald as a “quiet angel,” was bashful, sweet, and passionate about singing. Not one to initiate a conversation, Gayle was someone who made others glad once they did so. Described by a long-time friend as “the sweetest person you could ever meet,” she had a talent for singing that matched her passion. Despite her reserved nature, she loved to sing in groups, where her true talents really came alive.
Even though Stephanie did not know all these qualities about Gayle, her death really hit home. Being from Carol Stream, she knows a lot of people at NIU, and a friend of hers was in the room right next door to the site of the shooting.
The proximity of the tragedy for Stephanie led her to realize that everyone should be concerned when something like this happens. “We need to start becoming aware and more educated and actually take an interest in what is happening outside of the UT campus,” she reflected.
It bothered her when she was going to class at UT after the tragedy, and some classmates were not even aware that the terrible event had even taken place. Since it was so near to her, she hopes that everyone can imagine that the victims were their friends or family, and the emotions that such people must be undergoing.
After all, she knows that such tragedies could very well hit close to home for UT students. Having been to NIU’s campus several times, she describes it as “very similar to UT.” Despite being bigger in size, it still “gives off that community vibe.” Like UT, NIU was the last place she thought that a tragedy like this would occur. It is only slightly different from UT in that it has significantly more school pride, which she described as “really nice to see.”
However, all the pride in the world cannot substitute for education when it comes to handling such a terrible situation, Stephanie feels. Above all, when asked what she wants people to take out of the NIU calamity, she emphasized education and talking things out. “If professors don’t talk to their students about these things and educate them on the situation, then how are UT and other schools supposed to be ready for a situation like this?”
Now that she is forever deprived of the chance to know the “quiet angel,” she wants to help spread the word to prevent more people from meeting the terrible fate of Gayle. Stephanie feels that “the only way to be prepared for anything like this in life is to be educated.” Even though she chose to move to Florida for her college education, her background and friends in Illinois continue to weigh heavily on her thoughts and actions.
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