As we continued to receive updates, the panic began setting in. When you hear about an active shooter, your heart goes out to them, you send out a few prayers for them, and you continue to watch the events unfold on your television as you sit at home on your cozy couch with your family. But when you're actually sitting in a classroom, doors locked, in a state of panic, there's nothing you would rather do than be sitting at home with your family. For an hour, we watched via social media as SWAT rolled onto campus, buildings went on lockdown and the campus became bare.

You never anticipate anything so horrific happening on your campus, your home. Even though "active shooter" is a term that we've heard many times over the past few years, I've never been as scared to hear it as I was today. Fortunately, none of my close friends were hurt in the incident that occured today but my heart and prayers go out to those that were affected by today's events.

Situations like these just remind me how precious life really is. When we were on lockdown, I Skype'd my aunt on my laptop because I couldn't make calls to my mom and I saw tears come to her eyes when I explained the situation to her. Thankfully, the situation was contained and we were able to go home within an hour. Life is such a wonderful gift and I feel like I take advantage of this so I thank God for keeping me and my friends safe and am praying for those who are suffering because of these events.