By Dawn Jefferies
WSLS10 Anchor/Reporter
Published: April 16, 2008

I’ve been thinking about the April 16th anniversary for weeks as the day neared.

It was such a sad day, such a terrible tragedy.  But living in Blacksburg, I have been able to witness on a daily basis, the hopefulness of people at Virginia Tech and the community, It’s been inspirational watching so many people-- in the midst of such a tragedy-- come together to help each other.

When I think back to that day, I remember spending countless hours on campus that day and week. At the time, I was almost four months pregnant. Friends I knew on campus came up to check on me, asking me if I was ok or needed anything. I remember saying I was fine and being amazed they worried about me while trying to cope with what had happened.

Perhaps the moment that stands out most is the first time I learned how many innocent lives were lost. When we are our reporting, we often hear information that is never confirmed. When we were told 32 people were killed, I think my stomach dropped. I was in shock. I could not grasp that this happened, much less that it happened in the community in which I lived.

It made this tragedy, in some way, different to cover. It was hard at times not to break down when I talked about people I knew, the people we deal with on day to day reporting who were faced with dealing with the unimaginable happening to people they knew. These were their colleagues, their friends.

I remember starting to break down once. That’s not something journalists do, right? After giving this some thought over the last year, it’s not that we are unaffected by the difficult stories we report on. It’s just that for me, when you are in the moment reporting, you are so focused on getting information --doing your job-- that in some ways it doesn’t always sink in right away. It hit me after three days of constant coverage and sleepless nights.

Thinking back to the first day, I faced something I had not faced as a journalist before. My photographer and I were heading to Blacksburg that morning before the shootings at Norris Hall. We were a couple minutes away when we heard what happened. I asked myself if I really wanted to go there, not knowing what was happening. Normally, I wouldn’t have thought twice about going into the unknown as a reporter but this time was different-- I was pregnant and walking into an unknown, potentially dangerous situation.

The thought was fleeting. We drove on campus and the thought didn’t cross my mind again. We have a responsibility as journalists to seek information, question authorities and also to share people’s stories whether tragic or triumphant as best we can. I hope to make a difference doing so. It’s what I tried to do that day and the days since.