When Tragedy Hits (vB)

Julio Lopez and Hilda Torres

When I first thought about getting an MBA, I talked to my mother. She had recently become unemployed and I knew that getting my MBA would be expensive, and I would have to make cuts on certain things. Despite the situation, she was very supportive as was my girlfriend. 

I started the program in Spring 2016 and I thought to myself, 'Taking 8 hours, how hard could it be?' Little did I know that it would be difficult getting back to the grove of things after 5 years out of school, but earning an MBA is a completely different ballgame. It affected my life more than just financially - it left me with less leisure time to spend with my family and friends. 

Throughout the Spring and Summer terms, I was able to get the hang of how to balance my time, and I was on top of things by the time the Fall term started. I did my assignments well ahead of schedule, kept up with chapter readings, but little did I know that life had a different plan for me. 

About the 2nd week in of Mod B, I received the worst news of my life. I was at my girlfriend’s doing homework and my brother called me. He told me to head home because he had something to tell me. He sounded devastated and like he was crying. I begged him to tell me because on the phone and he said, “our parents are dead….” After a long silence and disbelief, I replied “stop lying.” I know it’s something no one would joke about but I didn’t want to believe it. 

I went home and found my brothers outside the house with police officers, and I didn’t see my baby sister. I learned she was involved in the same car accident where my parent lost their lives. She was at the ICU in a coma with a broken leg and a fractured neck. With minimal grieving time, we headed to the hospital. It was all a crazy experience; all I remember was speaking to a few of my family relatives and they all showed up to the hospital. 

I was had so many emotions. I was numb to everything. I was mad, sad, grateful, overwhelmed. 

A girl sped at 87 mph through an intersection passing a red light, hitting my parents and taking their lives. After a few days at the hospital, I notified my school advisor and she was very helpful. I spoke to my professors and they were also very helpful. My classmates and school friends were more than helpful; everyone was awesome to be honest. I missed about 4-5 weeks of school out of an 8-week module but with all their help I was able to make it through. 

At the age of 29, a few months shy of my 30th birthday, I buried both of my parents and took responsibility of my 13th year old sister. She turned 14 the day after my parents’ burial. Despite of all that happened, I was a year into completing my MBA and planned to keep with the program. Now that I’ve gone through this and made it, I feel like I could do anything. Of course, I couldn't do it alone-  I would need the helping hand of all the people that were kind enough to help me through this tragedy.

Julio Lopez
SMU Cox MBA Candidate