A sad, sad day

Today I experienced a profound loss due to the horrific deaths at Virginia Tech. I spent 7 years at Virginia Tech, some of the best and most life changing of my life. I lived on the 4th floor of West Ambler-Johnston my sophomore year, I had class in all of the classrooms on the second floor of Norris Hall. I could picture all of the locations, as events unfolded and were described in the news media- both television and print. The University is a part of my identity, and today it was attacked. My heart goes out to the students and families that are and will be more directly affected by this event than I. It will take a lot of courage to go back to class, I can't imagine what it will be like for the students and professors, I wish them all the courage they will need. From now on, this will be part of the collective identity of those associated with Virginia Tech-as Marshall in neighboring West Virginia, as Kent State in Ohio, and as Columbine in Colorado all know- and that is a sad realization for me. In the coming days and weeks and months anything good that happens at Virginia Tech will be overshadowed by this senseless tragedy, the successes of many will be colored by the act of one. If we've learned anything from September 11, 2001 though it is that we are resilient, that once we begin to heal time will fade the scars. Until then, courage. A Hokie forever, Anne