July/August 2000



17 year old Columbine Student, Mike Johnson, survived several shots including one to the head that nearly killed him. He has completed rehabilitation and is in excellent health. He plans on a career in teaching at the late elementary level. Mike is back at Columbine High School with his friends and looks forward to graduating next May. He is also employed as a
Chief of Staff at a neighborhood movie theater.

 

 

 

 

"Columbine is now only a little more than a year out of it, and it still seems like it will never end. To see other people in different places who have had a little more time and have moved on helps us realize that things will get better."

 

 

Columbine Survivor Shares
His Story on The Gathering

by Columbine Survivor, Mike Johnson

To me the Gathering was an experience that changed my perspective of school shootings. Before, everybody I knew who went through the things I did were from Columbine. The only people we have had the opportunity to communicate with have been in very similar situations. When we talk about shootings here we think Blue and Silver, Black Trenchcoats, and the library. That is the one track we have had in communicating our situations But at the gathering, it set up the premise for discussion on a much more broad scale. I was able to meet people who have gone through similar situations outside of Columbine and have pulled through. It helps to see that Columbine is not alone. We are not the only school in the country who knows what it is like to go through something like this. There are people outside of Littleton, Colorado who know what it is like to struggle through what we did.

So often it seems like we are constantly under the microscope. We have people throughout the country who are watching our every move. To an extent, the image of our school has been antagonized. Even some people in Littleton criticize us, giving their opinions about what went wrong with us. They talk about "What WE did to cause it," and "What annoys them in how WE are dealing with it" when they themselves have never had such an experience to be able to say things like that. It feels like we are the only ones in the world who know how it feels.

That was what was so awesome about the Gathering. It helped us realize that we aren't the only ones to feel this isolation. It was brought up that we do not want to be part of this "club" that has had to experience these things, but we are kind of glad that it is there to support us. It feels good to know that we are not alone. It also helps to know that life goes on. Columbine is now only a little more than a year out of it, and it still seems like it will never end. To see other people in different places who have had a little more time and have moved on helps us realize that things will get better.

It was incredible to be able to get to know this awesome set of people who, like us, were so tragically effected by such unimaginably horrible incidents. I want to keep in touch with the people I met, and hope to see them again. The support that we received. I would personally like to thank Jon, Stephanie, Charlene, Ontario Police Department, America West Airlines, Lullaby for Columbine, and the other individuals, companies, and organizations that have supported this cause. I thank you from the bottom of my heart.


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All Rights Reserved.