Seyma Tap: R.I.P. Rin Ros

As I walked towards the exit of the basketball court, I passed by a group of men. Right as I step out of the entrance, one of their buddies enters.

"... passed away," he yelled out to them. "That n*gga's gone."

As I walked further and further away, I kept trying to figure out the name of the person he mentioned. I wonder who could it have been? Probably an older man. Maybe a gang member? Little did I know that the person who died was actually one of my peers.

Hours earlier, I had heard my mom and her friends frantically speaking about someone who was severely beaten and was bleeding tremendously.

"His face was bruised and scraped." "There was blood all over his shoulders." "His clothing was stained with his blood."

At that moment I thought: It's just another person.

And to this day, I regret ever thinking that.

Because that person was a fourteen-year-old boy. A boy who was only in his second week of his sophomore year at Stagg. A boy who I remember throwing water balloons at. A boy who used to tease me. A boy who I had known since childhood. A boy who was my neighbor. A boy who I had seen standing with his friends just a day before, smiling.

That boy was Rin Ros.

On that day, Rin was severely beaten at Panella Park. After being taken home by his friends, he experienced cardiac arrest. He later died at St. Joseph's Medical Center.

I can't describe how I felt when I read about the incident on recordnet.com. I was absolutely shocked. The average person would've cried the moment that they learn about a friend's death. But I didn't shed a single drop of tear. I couldn't. I didn't want to. I asked myself, would Rin want us too?

On August 8, a ceremony was held at his home. Monks and residents gathered inside his living room where they chanted, prayed, and gave their blessings. Tables were set outside where a picture of a young Rin layed. I glanced at it, but I just couldn't look at it for more than second. That little boy... is gone.

The next week, I sat at my desk in my third period Health class looking through my textbook. After a few minutes of turning pages, I stop. Right in front of me was a chapter about mourning a person’s death and a chart on the different stages of grief. As I instantly thought of Rin, my eyes began to water.

Why, at that moment, was I about to shed tears when I didn't a few days earlier?

The fact that Rin was no longer on the campus just hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like crying then and there, but I was able to hold it in.

His funeral was held on a Saturday a few weeks ago, but I was unable to attend. His friends and family were able to look at him laying in his coffin for the last time, and that will be their last image of him. If I was there, I would have chosen not to look at his body because the last time I saw him was when he was smiling and that will always be my last image of him. It will be a positive and happy memory of him.

I give my blessings to Rin's family and I hope we don't ever have to experience the loss of a youth again even though it's inevitable.

Rest In Peace Rin Ros. We will always miss you.