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Today is the one-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech. In memory of the tragedy, MTV News caught up with the students we spoke with that week to find out how the tragedy changed life on campus.

We also asked the students to send us their written thoughts on that terrible day, which we'll be posting here throughout the afternoon. Here is freshman Elena Dulys-Busbaum, who started at Virginia Tech just this fall:

In the wake of the shootings, freshmen at Virginia Tech are a part of a new generation: the ones that came after. We cannot connect to the students who were here the way they can to each other -- but we are still considered strong, supportive members of the community at large. The tragedy, to us, is more than a cold television screen, but less than the memory of real terror that comes with a terrible event experienced firsthand.

I was at lunch my senior year in high school when I found out. Being from northern Virginia, students from my high school so frequently went to Virginia Tech that text messages were flying and we were trying to frantically find out who was okay -- much like on September 11th, when those whose parents worked in Washington, DC, were trying to get news in any way possible.

In the following hours and days, I was in shock and angered by my peers' frequent questions of whether or not I still planned to attend the school. I was angered that they could not think about the victims and the community of Virginia Tech -- only whether or not I would feel safe there. To be scared by a senseless act of violence would only realize the act's purpose. I am not one to be afraid. And even from a distance, the strength of the community amazed me, filling me with pride that I would be a part of the healing. Honestly, the thought of changing schools never even crossed my mind.

I think we feel bonded to our fellow students here more than freshmen at other schools across the country. We could be sitting in our campus coffee shop and see a girl pass by -- one we saw in her most vulnerable moments, broken down from the loss of a friend and exposed by the cameras for everyone in America to see on television. We see these people as they are: students, friends, real people shattered by tragedy and loosely pieced together over the summer. We see that they have taken their grief as a burden and bravely returned to a campus and community they love. We see the outpourings of support: at every special event when the 32 balloons are released the air in Blacksburg. We were there when the memorial was revealed on a hot summer day; we were there to see the flowers wilt on the steps of Norris; we were there to see the vigil for NIU and the renewed grief it caused; we were there for the aftermath.

With the anniversary here, there is a certain uneasiness that I cannot explain. Even though I was not here, did not lose anyone, did not cry in front of a camera lens, I love this community and will take part in the remembrance of the victims that ate where I eat, studied where I study, walked where I walk. I will keep in mind the suffering that my fellow students have endured and be by their side always -- especially on April 16th.

After all, we are all Hokies.

Tags virginia-tech

Today is the one-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech. In memory of the tragedy, MTV News caught up with the students we spoke with that week to find out how the tragedy changed life on campus.

We also asked the students to send us their written thoughts on that terrible day, which we'll be posting here throughout the afternoon. Here is junior Heidi Dull, whose friend Caitlin Hammaren was killed in the shootings:

Today when I woke up, my first thoughts were about this day last year: it was a typical cold day in Blacksburg, with me probably complaining about class and all the work I had to do, not knowing that my world was about to change. Then I thought about all the amazing people whose April 16th, 2007, was their last day. So I got out of bed this morning and thought, “Today I’ll live for 32.”

I’ll admit that walking around campus today was a bit different. There were more police than normal; I even noticed police cars from other universities around the state. Although the school says they are here for support, it still takes me back to one year ago when they were swarming the campus for security reasons.

Today the media is very visible on campus as well. I went to the memorial with a newspaper reporter from my hometown, and many news stations are now set up around the drill field. I have very mixed feelings about them being here because I want the world to see how much we have recovered and how strong and tight-knit our community is -- but I also wish we were able to grieve more privately.

With the one-year anniversary here, I am so impressed by Virginia Tech. This school meant so much to me before the shootings, and now it means the world to me. The strength and courage we have had through the past year says something about the people here. We are continuing to prevail as we remember the lives of the 32 amazing Hokies we lost that day.

Tags virginia-tech

Today is the one-year anniversary of the shootings at Virginia Tech. In memory of the tragedy, MTV News caught up with the students we spoke with that week to find out how the tragedy changed life on campus.

We also asked the students to send us their written thoughts on that terrible day, which we'll be posting here throughout the afternoon -- starting with sophomore Bryce Carter, who last year live-blogged the events as they were unfolding:

The public only sees what is presented to them, and what is presented to them has to be captivating enough to hold an audience and make profits. In the aftermath of April 16, 2007, our university suffered the untold amounts of reporters that transcended on our campus. Many reporters showed an enormous insensitivity to our community, as revealed in the story behind the photograph below.

This photograph is of what the public sees: the uncomfortably close shot of two friends in grief, one comforting the other. But the larger picture tells a very different story: as the students huddled together, photographers were eagerly crowded around snapping pictures to captivate the world with our grief. In fact, one friend may not only have been embracing the other -- she most likely was trying to shield her from the media.

Two stories unfolded last April: one was the shootings, and the other was the media. The story of the media presence and its effect was greatly underreported, yet it's left a deep scar on every Hokie who had to endure the reporters' presence. We felt nothing less than violated, raped.

There are countless other similar personal stories beyond these two photographs that Hokies and community members alike experienced. It is our hope that in the aftermath of their presence they realize that, as one reporter told me, “There is a difference between doing your job and doing your job with compassion.”

Tags virginia-tech