My Bonfire Experience

   On Thursday, November 18, 1999, Bonfire fell. To an Aggie there is no
worse news.  I went to school that fateful morning not knowing if my sister
or her boyfriend we under the massive pile of logs.  Just trying to get
through the day so I could catch a glimpse at a TV, to see the latest news. 
As I sat in my history class and heard people make Aggie jokes about it
falling I realized what I had to do.  I went to and told my teachers what had
happened and told them that I would not be in class that day.  I got in my
car and intended to go straight home, but there was a force that guided me to
College Station. 

    In the one and a half hours that it took me to get there I started
thinking about my future, and if it would involve Bonfire or not.  What had
happened made me think, and reaffirmed my love and desire for Texas A&M.  I
have always wanted to be an Aggie, and until that day I thought that I
understood, but I didn't.  I did not know hoe many Aggies were dead at this
point, but I knew they had been full of zeal or they would not have been out
there at 2:30 in the morning working.  This was to be the 90th Bonfire, a
milestone to say the least. 

    But when I stepped out on the Polo Fields I saw thousands of students and
fellow Aggies working steadfast and diligently.  Working as hard as they
could, just doing the best they could to lend a helping hand.  When the day
had started out, I was very optimistic that they death toll would stay low. 
That God would be watching over and would not take any more.  As my day and
my search wore on my optimism began to vacillate.  By the time I found my
sister and had started my way home the toll was up to 8 and questions began
to race in my head.  Are my grades good enough?  Do I deserve to go to A&M? 
Will there ever be another Bonfire?  For these questions I do not know, but
the way it looks to me it's yes, yes, and yes. 

    On my drive back home I realized I had a compulsion for Aggieland.  Sure
I went up there to try and find my sister, but that was one of many reasons I
wound up in College Station that fateful day.  My mourning happened when I
walked onto the Polo Fields, when I dropped and started to cry.  Down on my
knees seeing thousands of logs down on the ground when they are supposed to
be high in the air I had a fruition.  I realized that this is where I belong,
that this is my family.  "From the outside looking in, you can't understand
it.  From the inside looking out, you can't explain it."

John Myers