This week, The University of Alabama at Birmingham released documents revealing that the alleged Dark Knight Rises shooter, James Holmes, had applied for a graduate program at UAB but had been rejected.

The man who killed 12 and wounded 58 could have been right here in Alabama, not even an hour away from Tuscaloosa, and the only thing that stopped him was a simple rejection letter. Holmes applied in October 2010, was interviewed in February 2011 and received a rejection letter in March 2011. For us, this blessing of rejection changed the course of his path and sent him away from our beloved state.

It was only a month after James Holmes was rejected that the state of Alabama experienced its first bout of recent devastation: April 27, 2011. A little more than a year later, it was the tragic shooting in Auburn on June 9th that left three dead. It was then the shocking shooting at the Copper Top bar during the early morning hours of July 17th.

But to think, there could have been another shooting in our state only three days after the Tuscaloosa shooting. How much more tragedy could the state of Alabama have handled? Two shootings in two months was bad enough, and we barely escaped adding a third shooting to the list.

What has become of our nation that has, within the past year, been rattled with shootings across the country? The two shootings in Alabama, the movie theater massacre in Colorado, the temple shooting in Wisconsin, the shooting near Texas A&M campus, the shooting at the Empire State building. Why is this list so long for a span of just a few months? Should we as students be afraid to go to a movie or practice our religion? Should those in the business world be afraid to serve an eviction notice or fire an employee?

Surely, and hopefully, the answer is no. While we may experience some moments of fear in light of recent events, one should not live in fear of every moment. One would hope that our country halts this declining pattern of violence and begins back on the peaceful path. It would be nice to see people handle their problems in ways other than with guns and violence.

Could all these devastating shootings have been solved with a mature conversation? Probably not all of them. But with the case of James Holmes, it just goes to show you that one small thing, something as simple as a piece of paper, can change someone’s path.

Perhaps a friendly smile to the seemingly introverted outcast could change his or her perception of those around them. Perhaps another look at gun control laws could allow a tightening of policies to decrease gun violence. Whatever it may be, no matter how small, something needs to change to revert this recent sense of doubt and tragedy back to the inherent goodness of humanity.

Hannah Waid is a junior majoring in English.