EAST LANSING, Mich. — One year after three Michigan State students were killed on campus, students are now back in class in the building where some of the shooting happened. Berkey Hall reopened to students in January for the first time since the shooting.
"It was a little bit shocking, I'm going to be honest," says Daniela Deleon, a senior at MSU.
She says it was an emotional return to the building for class this semester, one she didn't expect to happen so soon.
"I wasn't expecting them to actually open the building," says Deleon. "I didn't feel great about it at first, because it doesn't feel right to be able to go to class here."
Deleon was on the other side of campus when the shooting happened at Berkey last year, and didn't know how it would feel to return to the building for class this semester. She does say, however, that she feels like the university has done everything it can to improve campus safety given the situation, specifically highlighting additional locks added to buildings.
"I work at the library from, like, nine to midnight, so that makes me feel way better," says Deleon.
Freshman Ethan Belanger wasn't on campus that day, but still had an emotional experience coming to Berkey for the first time.
"It was certainly, like, thought-provoking for me," says Belanger. "Just about, like, the implications of, like, having the building open up for the first time in a while."
Even though he didn't experience it first hand, he hopes his classmates who endured the tragedy are finding ways to come together a year later.
"Hopefully everyone can just get through it, even though it might be painful," says Belanger.
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