On the St. John Fisher campus, students go about their daily routines, running between classes, club meetings and dorm rooms. As the end of the semester approaches, evenings are spent studying for finals or enjoying a last few nights out with friends.

None of these scenes are unique to Fisher. Similar scenarios are played out on every college campus in America. However, the routines of 25,000 undergraduates at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Va., were altered drastically on Monday, April 16 when their campus was the site of the worst shooting massacre in modern United States history.

Seung-Hui Cho, 23, shot and killed two students in a dorm; hours later, he opened fire in one of the academic buildings, killing five teachers and 27 students before committing suicide. As students, families and surrounding community grieved, major and anticipated campus events such as a spring football game and fundraising campaign were cancelled.

Virginia Tech students were permitted to return to campus only yesterday, and classes were to resume today. In light of the situation, students have been offered three choices: Continue their coursework as normal, take a grade based on their work to date, or withdraw from a course without penalty.

In the aftermath of the tragedy, students at Fisher, as well as other campuses, were shaken by the realization that it could have happened anywhere.

Last Monday, Fisher sophomore Cara Pink went about her daily routine. She got lunch at the Fishbowl, went to her Sport Studies class, spent time in the Mac Lab working on a project, attended her Advanced Media Production class and filmed Fisher Sports Desk's last episode of the semester. However, as Pink walked the halls of Basil, she found that her thoughts were on another campus entirely.

"All I wanted to do was watch the news and see what was happening and if there were any updates," she said. "It really hit home because I'm a college student as well, and it could have happened on any campus."

The events at Virginia Tech also hit home for junior Ben Rawdon; perhaps even more so. His cousin Brian Sunders, a graduate student at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va., painted him a picture of the areas most strongly affected.

"I was on the phone with him constantly in the hours following the incident," Rawdon said. "He told me that basically the entire state was like a war zone when it came to security."

At Fisher, emotions ran high as students worried about friends-of-friends who attended Virginia Tech, or received frantic phone calls from parents. Despite this, Pink said her routine was remarkably unaffected--with the exception of her Advanced Media Production class.

"Everything else was kind of put on the wayside in order for us to talk about it," she said. "We were all just kind of amazed at it. We all just wanted to sit in front of the TV and watch what was going on."

Rawdon found that it caused him to flash back to another American tragedy.

"My first reaction was a feeling of 'oh no, not again' since I had seen this sort of thing before with Columbine," he said. "I just couldn't believe that this happened on a major college campus."

The after-effects of the tragedy were felt in events on campus throughout the week. On April 17, a remembrance service for those who died in the shooting was incorporated into the afternoon Mass at Coleman Chapel. As the Cardinals lacrosse teams took the field for their home games, the flag at Growney Stadium flew at half-mast, as did the one in front of Kearney Hall. Resident students were advised of safety policies for the dorms during regular end-of-the-year floor meetings, and were also told about the availability of counseling for those struggling with their feelings about the situation.

The Wellness Center provides free and confidential mental health counseling to all students. Appointments can be made by contacting (585) 899-3800 or counseling@sjfc.edu.

"The first step in the healing process is simply to acknowledge that it is the human condition to be affected by tragedy, no matter how remote the initial assault on our personal lives seems to be," Dr. Michael Herzbrun, coordinator of mental health services, said.

Herzbrun also encouraged students to turn to one another in times of crisis as well.

"Because the Fisher campus is a caring community, there are many places to turn for this support. Just talking to a peer, a family member, or a colleague can be a great help."

Despite recent debates in the news about the safety of college campuses, Rawdon said that he would try to finish out the semester as normal.

"As a college student, this is certainly going to make me a little more aware of the people around me, but at the same time, I'm not going to let this affect my life too much."

Pink also said that she would try to keep her normal routine as she finishes sophomore year, and also expressed confidence in Fisher.

"I've always felt safe on this campus," she said. "My feelings haven't changed because of this incident.

"But there are times when you're just sitting in a classroom and you think 'Wow, what would happen if...'"