My Brother is OK

"My brother is ok. I appreciate everyone's concern and will update you on any information I get." This is an e-mail I received yesterday around 12:50pm.

12:15 pm: I had just come back from my gen ed science class and was determined to start right away working on a Marketing research paper. I watched a little bit on CNBC while eating lunch before I started to write but they did not have any news on VT. As I am collecting and studying research for my paper I read the e-mail. Having no idea what my friend was speaking about I go to cnn.com, turn back on the TV, and see the horror unfold.

I could not believe what I saw. A massacre has taken place at Virginia Tech. First it was 21 dead, then 22 dead, 23 dead, and the number kept rising like watching mercury in a thermometer, you never knew at what point it was going to stop. I was stunned. The first glimpse of seeing that video and hearing the loud crack whip sound of gun shots echoing in Norris Hall had me held back in my seat barely able to comprehend what had happened. I never felt so connected to such a tragedy.

JMU while very different to Tech (as noted in an earlier post) also is very similar because of where the schools are. For Virginians, Tech and JMU are interchangeable schools where many high school students know that either one is a realistic future. The campuses of both schools are filled with Virginians because they are public state universities. Knowing how similar the places are made me feel as if this happened to JMU's brother not just another university. This hit me even closer having traveled down to Tech in early February for fraternity conclave. Seeing the buildings on tv, had me shaken in my seat.

It is hard to recall a moment that I can vividly remember where I felt sick, compassion, sad, scared, mortified, and shocked at the same time. That is the power of this event. 32 people murdered by the act of one person. Students and Professors who were going about bettering themselves, learning, had their lives taken away.

As the profiles as the victims pass on CNN, it is still hard to believe. They identified the shooter but that does not bring back those who were killed. Seeing the guy's picture and learning about him doesn't phase me at all. I don't care who he was. I don't want to know him. He doesn't deserve my time.

I'm not one to pray but may everyone's prayers go to those at Virginia Tech and their families and friends.