Maybe it’s a product of our experiences, but for some reason, we tend to hold our collective breath whenever we get word of a campus shooting.

It may be because there’s a still a portion of us here who remember the pain of the Feb. 14 shootings.

But when we do graduate, we hope that our successors will still empathize with the students at other universities who experience a tragedy like this.

Our hearts go out to those who attend University of Texas at Austin and Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.

For those of you who are unaware, let us summarize what happened at these two universities.

On Tuesday, a masked gunman fired several shots on campus before taking his own life. Thankfully, no one was killed.

This past weekend, one student was killed and five others injured when, according to the New York Times, a gunman walked into a house party and began firing.

The shooting occurred only a mile off-campus.

There are a lot of disturbing aspects about campus shootings, but perhaps the most terrifying part of them is how they seem to come out of nowhere.

No one ever wakes up and fully prepares for the fact that today will be the day someone walks into DuSable Hall with a gun.

Think about your loved ones. NIU’s security has increased since the Feb. 14 shootings; the NIU Police has received enough funding to the point where the size of their force outnumbers the City of DeKalb’s.

But are the security procedures at your dad’s company or in your mom’s office enough to ward off a former employee who is out for vengeance?

These are not the happiest things to think about.

But thankfully, there are good guys out there who spend their days thinking of different ways how to keep ordinary people safe.

Thankfully, there are good guys who will investigate as to why these tragic events occurred, and will research what we can do to stop the next one.