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I am thousands of miles from Virginia but I sit here stunned by what happened there this morning. The mass shooting overshadows anything else I could possibly write.

I can not fathom how a soul gets so twisted to shoot into a crowded classroom. I can not comprehend the agony of the families involved.

As a grad student, educator and former faculty child, schools have always been synonymous with home.

What is it like to have this sanctuary terrorized?

Comments

[Mae Ann]

You mirrored my thoughts....how can that happen? And we moms always think about how we are helping our children to evolve, to morph into their being. Ever since the time that I was pregnant, I had thoughts and fears of all the "what if's"....and this was one of them. Every day,is filled with my hopes and my worries that our children will thrive.

I'm from Blacksburg. My parents met while going to school at Tech and stayed. They still live there. They are devastated. You're right -- it is like having someone come into your little piece of heaven and desecrate it.

[emily]

Both my husband and I are VT grads, and my BIL is still a student there (thankfully he didn't have class yesterday). In the time I spent there, I always felt extremely safe. I can not imagine the terror and shock those students must have been feeling, hearing gunshots getting closer and closer to their classroom. Kudos to the students who have been on the news that had the presence of mind to barricade their doors to keep him out of their rooms. What a terrible, unexplainable, tragedy.

[Jaki]

I am also a VT Grad (1998) and this whole thing is so sad. It is such a large school but the town is so small and tight! When I was there I never felt the slightest bit afraid for my life. It was my home and I felt as safe there as I did in my parents home. My husband and I actually talk about and still want to retire there some day. The worst part is we will never know what really happened and why as the only one that knows is dead! Now, we will have to listen to everyone in the media point fingers and try to find someone to blame and take this out on. Which is bad since the only one that deserves any punishment has already perished. My prayers are with the entire VT community and their friends and families.

[paige]

I live near Bburg. That's where I teach kindergarten. Yesterday we closed school early (after being locked down all day). I sat with my kindergarteners and kept them entertained while we waited for parents to come and pick them up. Two of the kids, the last to be picked up, weren't concerned. We all were, since their parents teach in Norris Hall. We were terrfied that their parents were dead or injured. Thank goodness they were fine.

One of my dearest friends teaches in Norris, in the Engineering Dept. I was frantic to find her. She had a doctor's appointment that morning and someone else took her class. So she's ok, but two of her students are known dead and three of her colleagues. Several more of her students are injured.

This community is beyond shock. We don't even lock our doors. It is comforting to me to see that the rest of the world is thinking about us and supporting us. I, too, am a faculty brat and I am truly horrified by this. My own three children are dazed and upset. I know they'll have friends whose families are deeply affected by this.

Thank you for thinking of us. It really does help.

[Christy]

All of you who are connected to Virginia Tech have made it even more real for me. You are all in my thoughts today.