Throughout the day, I've read breaking news about the tragic shooting at Virginia Tech. The accounts have brought me to tears, and I'm deeply saddened. This doesn't happen to me often. Normally, there's a kind of barrier between me and the news. I think most of us develop this kind of desensitized way of going about our lives, thinking that so many stories, while heartbreaking, are also distant. They happen somewhere else to other people.

I'm not so far removed from college, where I lived in a dorm and worked as an RA. My alma mater previously held the record for shooting fatalities. These personal factors might contribute to my unusual feelings of grief and connection to the community where the tragedy occurred.

Nonetheless, I know I speak for many people from all walks of life when I express sorrow for all the people who woke up Monday morning not knowing what senseless violence would ensue - all those who survived and all those who didn't. My sympathy goes out to all Virginia Tech community members and their families.