My obituary; this is an exercise

 Helmer, behind the guy in middle, with friends and family on a Missions trip in New Orleans.

Christian Helmer, a 19 year old college student who attended Biola University, was a happy student who aspired to do something with his life. Focusing in the major of Journalism, Mr. Helmer focused on writing for his profession. Unfortunately, he died on thursday of this week in L.A. He had many hopes and dreams not yet accomplished.

On the night before his death, Helmer had spent the night at a friend’s house just about one hour away from Biola campus. While he was entering his friend’s car on his drive back, three teenagers had pulled up on the scene in a rickety Monte Carlo and blasted full rounds on him before he could even pull off. Amazingly, his friend was spared, but not without fatal injuries to his legs and his arm. “I thought I was a goner,” says best friend Brett Balough in full arm and leg casts.

Helmer’s family received news of the tragic event just an hour after school officials had called them. His sister, Saffiyah Rieff, says sobbingly, “I just wish we had gotten to spend more time with him before this happened.” Helmer had grown up in a normal middle class home like most Californian kids. Coming from the town of Rancho Cucamonga in the Inland Empire, he had spent his first two years of high school at Alta Loma High. 

After complications with his faith and his parents, Lesma Yorke, his mother, decided to enroll him in Ontario Christian High. “I remember that he wasn’t quite fond of it,” explains Yorke. “He always complained about the environment being unwelcoming.” 

During his last year, Helmer went back to Alta Loma and finished strongly as a senior. But this was not without taking part in a few extracurricular activities like Cross Country and Track & Field. “He was quite the runner,” remarks Chaffey College student A.J. Wilson, who was a senior when the two ran together.

In his last few days, Balough said Helmer had this to say about his life, “I think if I had to die today, I think I would have lived a pretty good life.”