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Déjà vu for survivor at Tech

Student was also at Columbine during rampage

Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News

Published April 19, 2007 at midnight

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The massacre at Virginia Tech brought back painful memories for Regina Rohde, who was a freshman at Columbine High School when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris went on their shooting rampage in 1999.

"The first thought through my head was just probably the same reaction as a lot of people: 'How can this be happening?' " Rohde told Meredith Vieira on the Today show Wednesday.

"It was a lot of the same reactions: What's going on? Who's hurt? What do we do? Where do we go? How are we safe? Where are we safe? Because at the time, there was still a report of a gunman on the loose."

Rohde, now 23, is a graduate student at Virginia Tech, working on a master's degree in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences.

She wasn't in the line of fire at Virginia Tech on Monday. Eight years ago, she was in the cafeteria at Columbine but left before the shootings began that left 15 people dead.

"I was one of the very extremely lucky ones that was able to get out of my high school before even the first calls went into police," she told Vieira.

"I spent a good majority of that day, sitting in a nearby home, watching the news, similar to what I did here."

Rohde said she didn't immediately make the connection between the two events.

"For some reason, I didn't really go back to that day eight years ago until quite a bit later," she said.

Rohde was still in shock over the shootings at Virginia Tech.

"I don't think it's really hit a lot of people yet - the gravity of the situation - myself included," she said. "I haven't really come to understand yet what truly is going on. We don't know a lot."

But based on her previous experience, she told Vieira that it would take a while for people to deal with the aftermath of the massacre.

"People are living minute to minute, not being able to cope with anything in the future. Eventually it becomes hour to hour, week to week, where eventually, you can start planning . . . ahead in your life again.

"It takes a lot of time to pick those pieces back up again and continue on. Normalcy never comes back. It's a different definition of normal."

Rohde declined to be interviewed by the Rocky Wednesday.

"I want to be part of the Hokie family here and part of the healing going on," she said. "I would really like to move on with my life and heal."

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