NIU?
Holy crap. It seems like as these types of shootings continue to happen, they seem to keep hitting closer to home for me. When I was in 8th grade or so and Columbine happened, along with a couple of others, I wasn't in High School yet, plus they were in other states and of course, that stuff always happens to other people, never to you or people you know or in places you know. But then Virginia Tech happened. All of a sudden college, a place that seemed totally secure from these kinds of things, was not bulletproof. We all realized how easy it would be for someone to come in to the lecture hall full of students, maybe us, and open fire. But still, even though it was college, it was somewhere else, with other teachers and students. But then a couple of weeks ago a guy walked into a Lane Bryant store in Tinley Park, IL and killed five people. The store is about 20 minutes away from where I grew up and about 5 minutes away from Camp Manitoqua, where I worked for two summers. And then the shooting at NIU. Everyone who graduated from a high school in Illinois knows at least five people who went to NIU or still go there. One of my lifelong friends is in grad school there right now. It's scary. I think of my friends who are still in school or in grad school and know that this could have easily happened in Foellinger at U of I instead. Please keep the NIU community in your thoughts and prayers at this time, and if you want to read a great commentary on these types of situations I strongly suggest you click on the content magazine link on the left.