A Dreadful Day

April 16, 2007 started out like any regular Monday morning would. I woke up, brushed my teeth, showered, dressed, and went to school but little did I know that day would greatly impact my life. As I attended school that day, the loudspeaker spurred into life and announced an ongoing incident at Virginia Tech University. At the time I thought nothing of the issue and dismissed it. During our 7^th period announcements, it was revealed to all the students that a lone gunman had massacred 32 individuals at Virginia Tech University. We followed the announcements in prayer.

There was not too much revealed to the students in our high-school about what really occurred at Virginia Tech, so when I got home I learned the full depth story. Around 7:15 A.M, a Virginia Tech student by the name of Seung-Hui Cho began firing on those who were residing in the West Ambler Johnston Hall building. After killing two students, he fled the scene. Later around 9:15 A.M, Cho began his deadly assault again but in Norris Hall. This attack was much deadlier than his prior one, which resulted in 30 casualties. The coverage of the massacre was playing on almost every channel and it saddened me that 32 unfortunate individuals lost their lives so unexpectedly.

I vividly remember a whole flood of officers running towards the university, weapons drawn, while swat members were heavily armed, cautiously positioning themselves around the university. I also remember hearing the sound of the ambulances and the look that the students had while being escorted by police officials. Everyone was depicted in a frantic state, either rushing to safety or rushing to find the culprit behind the attack. Images of the wounded being carried out were then depicted. It was clear that confusion was among everyone at the scene.

The media stated that this was the worst and deadliest campus shooting that ever took place. As I continued watching the coverage of the Virginia Tech Massacre, reporters went into further detail about how Cho carried out his attacks. Cho carried out his second attack by going from class to class and firing on the professors and then on students. It made me sick to my stomach just visualizing how it may have happened and after hours of watching the television that day I could no longer bear to hear the sound of gunshots that they kept replaying in the broadcast, which a student happened to capture on a recording.

Being a Junior in high-school, I had high hopes about college, especially since it was right around the corner. However, the events that took place that Monday morning drastically changed my perception of what college would be like. I imagined the worst case scenarios about my entry into college, wondering if it would be safe. As the day came to an end, I realized that my own classroom consisted of 30 students. The thought of a massacre at my high-school and watching my fellow classmates die before my eyes deeply saddened me. As I look back on the entire incident it makes me very sad to think about all those families effected by the loss of their loved ones and the seriousness of the issue seems much greater than it previously did.