Students of Tech,

I stole the T. I know many of you respond to that with feelings of excitement and are impressed, but I must tell you that those feelings are entirely misplaced.

I, like many of you, thought that the stealing of the T was a tradition that was merely frowned upon. I had no idea what the ramifications would be for me personally, for my education, for my family and for potentially the rest of my life.

Many of you have contacted me with thoughts similar to “I wish I could have done what you did,” and to answer all of you, no you don’t.

The past several weeks have been the most stressful of my life, but I care much less about my feelings than I do about the trouble this has caused my parents and the rest of my family. I could have died with one loss of footing up on the tower; it is pure luck that my foolishness did not kill me that night.

Now, beyond their fear for my life, I have also seen the disappointment in my parents’ eyes, coupled with their fear for what effects this will have on the rest of my life. They have sacrificed so much to raise me and send me to this great school, and I cannot imagine that I may have tossed that away with one night of foolishness.

I hate that it has taken these events for me to truly realize the value of everything that I have and what was in the path before me.

Over the past two and a half years, I have grown to love Tech so much, and it has become my second home. Being from so far out of state, I came here with nothing. From the start, I was surrounded by great friends who cared for me, and we jointly began to push forward towards the grand task of earning a degree from Tech. I have worked so hard in my time here towards that goal that it hurts knowing I could have thrown it all away.

Stealing the T is not a prank; it is a felony. Defacing of school property is not a joke; it is the exact opposite of an expression of my love for this place.

This tradition should truly end and no longer be supported by everyone but the administration. I do not want anyone else to experience what I have as a result of this. The only thing that has kept me going is the support of everyone around me, and I thank you all so much for that.

Please listen to me when I say that this was the dumbest decision I have ever made, and I am not proud of it.

Note: this student chose to remain anonymous.