Clustering/Winter break from college

My daughter attends a college with only 4500 students. 3 of them (that I know of) died over this winter break. One from heroin overdose, one from a plane crash in Costa Rica (her whole family died) and one died in the Santa Barbara mudslide. It seems like a cluster of unrelated deaths. Sobering and heartbreaking. Life is so unpredictable. Let's live every minute and every day for all it is worth.
I want to thank all of you on this forum for the difference you have made in my life and my growth. Peace and blessing to all of you.

Yupo said:

My daughter attends a college with only 4500 students. 3 of them (that I know of) died over this winter break. One from heroin overdose, one from a plane crash in Costa Rica (her whole family died) and one died in the Santa Barbara mudslide. It seems like a cluster of unrelated deaths. Sobering and heartbreaking. Life is so unpredictable. Let's live every minute and every day for all it is worth.
I want to thank all of you on this forum for the difference you have made in my life and my growth. Peace and blessing to all of you.

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Oh no, I'm really sorry to hear that, Yupo. That is really heartbreaking. I hope you and your daughter are okay and take care of yourselves. Sending big hugs.

Yupo - so sorry to hear of the student deaths. Hope your daughter is all right. I lived in Santa Barbara for 37 years, had been in 3 fire evacs and experienced the mudslides but not like what has happened in the past month or so. I have been following the news daily and am horrified at the extent of the damage and lives lost. It breaks my heart to see familiar neighborhoods and families in such tragedy. I am so sorry for the loss of one of your daughter's college mates in such circumstances. Sending hugs.

Well, I don't know the statistics on these things, but it seemed like a lot of deaths for a small group of young healthy people. But I guess they all were engaged in risky behavior. Small planes are riskier than airliners. Opiate use is crazy risky lately. Santa Barbara: just plain bad timing.

That's a lot of tough news for your daughter even if she was not close to the kids personally. I hope she is handling things ok. It is very strange though, to have so many from such a relatively small group as that college. to her if she needs it.

Yupo said:

Well, I don't know the statistics on these things, but it seemed like a lot of deaths for a small group of young healthy people. But I guess they all were engaged in risky behavior. Small planes are riskier than airliners. Opiate use is crazy risky lately. Santa Barbara: just plain bad timing.

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That does seem like a lot of deaths for one small school in such a short time and pretty upsetting for the kids!

I looked at crude death rate statistics, here and for the United States, there were 8.4 deaths per 1000 people in 2013. So 3 out of 4500, even given the young age of college students, isn't really outside the norm, but still shocking for a small school. And like you said, 2 were engaged in risky behavior.

I did read about that plane crash in Costa Rica. All 12 people on board were killed, no word yet on the cause. :(

Yupo said:

My daughter attends a college with only 4500 students. 3 of them (that I know of) died over this winter break. One from heroin overdose, one from a plane crash in Costa Rica (her whole family died) and one died in the Santa Barbara mudslide. It seems like a cluster of unrelated deaths. Sobering and heartbreaking. Life is so unpredictable. Let's live every minute and every day for all it is worth.
I want to thank all of you on this forum for the difference you have made in my life and my growth. Peace and blessing to all of you.

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Gosh, Yupo, that's terrible! I'm really sorry to hear that. Teenagers tend to think they are immortal and indestructible so it must have been a real shock and a painful experience for your daughter. And you too - three deaths of young people around our own daughter's age is certainly quite a shock.

Yet the last sentences in your posts read like it helped you look at your own life from a different angle - I hope your daughter will arrive at useful conclusions as a result of it too.

Oh my Yupo.. Im very sorry to hear that, I can imagine it was a shock for your daughter and the other kids in the school and I hope she is doing better little by little. Even if she wasn't that close to the kids it certainly is a shock. Back when I was in middle school 3 kids committed suicide in just one year, and I remember the whole school was in a state of shock for quite some time. As you said, we should live every minute of our life to the fullest and always, always be grateful for the things we get to do in the day.

A big hug to you and your daughter.