Exactly one year ago our hearts stopped. We witnessed a scene unfold that made us question humanity.

Each hour, the death count grew. The pain in our stomachs deepened. It was happening almost 400 miles away, but it felt as though it were happening in our own backyard.

And it could have been.

The 32 victims were just like us. They sat in classrooms just like the ones we sit in every day. They had Facebook pages, impending exams, drama between friends and weekend plans.

But those Facebook pages were never updated, the exams were never taken, the drama was never resolved and the plans were never fulfilled.

Since the tragedy at Virginia Tech, the climate in America’s colleges - and even Kent State - has changed. On April 16, 2007, the sense of security many college students felt was shattered when news reports poured in of an armed student gunning down his classmates. We were shocked from our innocence.

It didn’t and still doesn’t make sense.

The names of the fallen:

Ross Abdallah Alameddine, 20

Christopher James Bishop, 35

Brian Bluhm, 25

Ryan Clark, 22

Austin Cloyd, 18

Jocelyne Couture-Nowak

Daniel Perez Cueva, 21

Kevin Granata, 45

Matthew Gwaltney, 24

Caitlin Hammaren, 19

Jeremy Herbstritt, 27

Rachael Hill, 18

Emily Jane Hilscher, 19

Jarrett Lane, 22

Matthew La Porte, 20

Henry Lee, 20

Liviu Librescu, 76

G.V. Loganathan, 51

Partahi Lombantoruan, 34

Lauren McCain, 20

Daniel O’Neil, 22

Juan Ortiz, 26

Minal Panchal, 26

Erin Peterson, 18

Michael Pohle, 23

Julia Pryde, 23

Mary Read, 19

Reema Samaha, 18

Waleed Shaalan, 32

Leslie Sherman, 20

Maxine Turner, 22

Nicole White, 20