NIU shootings

I just realized that I have not yet written about this topic. I think most everyone who's reading this already knows about the horrific event that took place at my Alma Mater, NIU, on Thursday afternoon.

I was in Spain visiting some fellow NIUers when I heard about it. One of my friends has a sister in the States who attends NIU, and he received an email saying that his sister was back home and safe. We didn't get it, since we hadn't yet heard about what had happened. So we began looking on the internet for info, and within a matter of seconds, we found out what happened.

We sat there for about 15 minutes watching clips about it, totally stunned and all of three of us were unable to say anything during those 15 minutes. It was (and still is) quite a shock.

Why do people do such stupid things? Honestly, why is this world so violent? The whole thing is scary. In fact, part of me is scared to go home. Maybe I've become too European or something, but these shootings really frighten me, and they happen too often in the States.

The whole thing reminds us all that you never know what can happen. You never know who to trust. All we can do is remember. People's lives were taken for no reason and that's what hurts the most.

The NIU community (including students, profs, faculty, and alum) is very broken because of what conspired. I am abroad right now, so I can't really understand the full of extent of how much everyone is hurting, but people in France have also heard about it. I am still very saddened by the events. I still have friends on that campus, and the thought that I had many classes in Cole Hall (where it happened) is very frightening.

As for how I've been coping...I am still incredibly shocked that such a horrible thing can happen in such a beautiful and peaceful place. We have a very pretty campus which will now be haunted with what that asshole did, and the pain will never go away. Luckily, I have some good friends here who have been making sure that I keep busy so that I do not think about it much. Some people here have been making some very disrespectful statements about it, which very much upsets me. It's not like shootings and other acts of violence don't happen here, so I don't understand why they say such things as "we should have expected it". I'm sorry, but how can anyone predict that someone is going to flip out and decided to kill people randomly?

Fortunately, the NIU campus reacted quickly to what happened. The campus police were at the scene less than 2 minutes after it started, and now the campus is closed until February 25, in order to give everyone some time to heal and try to relax before going back to class. I don't think any amount of time will suffice for us to get over this tragic event, but at least the school is trying very hard to help the community during this stage of doubt and healing.

My thoughts are with all of those affected by this unbelievable act of violence. Let's be strong, Huskies!!