Dawson College students offer advice to Virginia survivors

Dawson College students and staff who lived through a shooting rampage at their school last fall say it will take time for their peers at Virginia Tech to recover from Monday's deadly attack.

Thirty-two people were shot dead when Cho Seung-Hui, a 23-year-old English major from South Korea, opened fire in a dorm and later in several classrooms at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

News of the rampage resonated with Dawson students, some of whom are still digesting their own experience as witnesses and victims of a gunman's attack on the college last Sept. 13.

"I don't see this causing a big uproar of emotional breakdowns, but this did definitely hit close to home," said Michelle Ayoub, a Dawson student who was at the Montreal college the day of the shooting. "It's a reminder. It keeps us on our feet, and reminds us of what happened."

Dawson college psychologist Abe Worenklein said he's worried about students at his school experiencing flashbacks. "For many of the students it will bring back memories. I am very concerned it will get them to relive some of their anxieties and possibly even to have nightmares."

Worenklein urged Virginia Tech students to talk with friends and family, which will help them process their experience and keep anxiety at bay.

"The children need to be encouraged to ask questions, to express how they feel, to really emphasize the fact that when we have feelings of anger, there are productive ways or constructive ways of dealing with [them]," he told CBC.

Ultimately the incident can serve as a learning experience. "When you have a lemon, make lemonade out of it. And it is one helluva lemon."

Montreal Mayor Grald Tremblay has sent a letter of condolence to his counterpart in Blacksburg, Va.