Survivor Excited to Return to Va. Tech

Virginia Tech senior Colin Goddard talks about his thoughts on returning to classes at Virginia Tech while at his family's home on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2007, in Richmond, Va. Goddard was shot four times during the April attack but doctors say he will make a full recovery. (AP Photo/Lisa Billings) (Lisa Billings - AP)

He dived into physical therapy with the goal of being able to walk again in five weeks _ just in time to leave for his trip to Madagascar with the aid group CARE International. A week before he left, he was off crutches and walking with a cane. A few weeks into his trip, he was walking on his own.

He can't wait to get back to playing intramural volleyball, football and soccer, though he wonders how good he'll be.

Sitting in his parent's living room, he sighs as he tries to answer the question he's asked himself so many times: Why did he survive Cho's bullets while 32 others did not?

"Some people say, `Oh, you had someone who was looking out for you that day,' or 'There was a reason that you were meant to live,' and I'm like, well, there were people that were killed all around me. A slight movement from here was alive and here is dead," he says, making the gesture of a gun with his hand.

"What happened, happened. And I'm here. And I really think it's just lucky. He had complete control. He had all the cards in his hand and when he put them down, I happened to be one of the lucky ones."

Goddard says he feels little anger toward the university. Or even toward Cho, though he still thinks about him.

He hopes he can start fresh and close a dark chapter in his life. He wants normalcy, though he knows things won't be the same.

He picks up a patchwork afghan sent as a gift after the shootings. The squares, knitted in his school colors of orange and maroon, were made by people all over the world and sewn together at a Blacksburg craft store.

He received countless letters and gifts from well-wishers. He wonders whether bringing them to school will remind him of the past and prevent him from moving toward the future.

But he'll pack the afghan, he says.

Blacksburg winters are cold. And he's going to need the warmth.