When something like this happens, it is impossible to ignore. We have all heard the statistics: 33 dead, 15 injured, countless other emotional wounds. We know the shooter's name and have seen his face. We've heard a U.S. president, a Virginia governor, two university presidents and many other officials respond. If we've been within five feet of a television or live feed on the Internet, we've heard talking heads discuss the rumors and the ramifications.
The really difficult thing to deal with in the wake of the shootings at Virginia Tech is not the facts. It's that question, now as ubiquitous on Grounds as "What are you doing for the summer?" -- "Is everyone you know OK?"
The University of Virginia and Virginia Tech share an interesting place in every Virginian's heart. Sure, you may choose one side or the other, but you're also never lacking in friends who decided maroon was better than navy. Yeah, we have an intense sports rivalry -- but what fun is a rivalry if you have no one to rib at the other school?
We at the University will not be able to feel perfect sympathy for our fellow students at Tech. The victims were not our classmates and professors, the buildings were not our classrooms and dormitories.
At the same time, we are perhaps more intimately linked to the students at Tech than most. We share an intense pride for our school and will defend it fervently against another. We share a passion for learning and a commitment to higher education that makes Virginia one of the best states in the country in which to attend college. Cavaliers and Hokies share similar experiences, whether they be attending the same high school or loving the color orange.
I'm lucky. I was able to get in touch with a close friend at Tech fairly quickly and learned from her that all of our close friends were not harmed. I have heard through the small-town grapevine that I have both cursed and blessed over the past 20 years that all the kids from my high school are also all right.
My friend's life is forever changed by Monday's events. A place that she loved, where she had had four of the best years of her life, will never again be a perfectly happy place. That is not to say that Tech students will not, at some point in the future, look back on their years at the school fondly. But there will always be a blemish, something that popped that college bubble in which we are all so wonderfully insulated.
Others are not as lucky as me. Thirty-three members of the Virginia Tech community are no longer on campus. Many of those people have direct connections to people in our community.
Dictionary.com defines community as "similar character, agreement, identity." So really, though we may not be students at Virginia Tech, we are a part of their larger community. We share a similar character: strong, driven, intellectual. We share an identity as young adult students, dedicated to getting more than a diploma.
Going back to that small town I mentioned, one lesson I will always look back fondly upon is that in times of crisis, a small town pulls together. Church ladies bring casseroles, people reach into their pockets to donate, acquaintances who you haven't talked to in years send notes to let you know you're in their hearts and prayers. Though these actions sound quaint, as if from a different decade, they still carry the same message they did back then: We care and we're here.
I debated all day about whether I should dedicate my column to this subject or pick something lighter and breezier for a little relief from the emotional roller coaster. But this is the Life section, and I couldn't ignore something that has had such a huge impact on all of our lives.
Then I thought of my friend at Tech and all of our friends at Tech. So this is my note for you: We care, and we're here.
Laura's columns run bi-weekly on Thursdays and Fridays. She can be reached at sisk@cavalierdaily.com.
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