One year ago, the spring class of Geology 104 became well-known to the world. The members of the lecture-style class have gone from a list of names on a roll call sheet to a series of faces on the news to blending back into society. Five members of last year’s class recently spoke with the Northern Star to explain what their lives are like now and what they’ve been doing.

LINDSAY ULLMANN

Because of the shootings, loud noises may trigger emotions and memories for Lindsay Ullmann, and she is more aware of her surroundings. But despite her bumps at times, she said that she doesn’t want anyone to pity her or to feel sorry for her because she is growing and doing well.

“I am moving forward,” Ullmann said. “I have little setbacks here and there, but I am moving forward. I’ve definitely made progress from a year ago.”

Ullmann, a senior probability and statistics major, was in the classroom during the shootings on Feb. 14. She said that her perspective on life has changed since.

“I live every day to the fullest,” Ullmann said. “I don’t take anything for granted anymore.”

She said the tragedy bonded her to the school and the community. She made three close friends who were in the classroom at the time of the shootings, and she wears NIU clothes more than she wears clothes endorsing other schools.

“I wear my NIU clothes because I’m proud of my school,” Ullmann said. “I feel a closer connection to the school. There was a huge outpouring of support.”

Ullmann also makes more of an effort to spend time with her family and said that she values her time with them a lot more. When she learned of her grandfather’s hip surgery, she went to visit him before the surgery, because she didn’t want to take any chances. He died from a heart attack after the surgery, and she said she is glad that she spent some time with him before he died.

“I made sure I went to go see him,” Ullmann said. “You never know what would happen.”

TIM GODSEY

The day Tim Godsey skipped class is the day he’ll never forget.

When he saw he had already learned what was going to be taught on Feb. 14, the senior geography major decided not to attend his 2 p.m. class.

Later that day, Godsey got a call from one of his friends saying something had happened. The NIU Web site confirmed it: a shooting had happened on campus. But it wasn’t until later that night when he learned that it was his 2 p.m. class.

“It sank in. Somebody was watching over me that day,” Godsey said. “Probably my parents.”

Godsey reached out for support and found it in his brothers, co-workers and his friends in Alpha Phi Omega, the co-ed service fraternity in which Godsey is an active member.

“All of my brothers were there for me and my classmates as well,” Godsey said.

His experience with the tragedy has re-affirmed his motto: “To live every day as if it was going to be your last.”

Although it has been nearly a year since the tragedy, Godsey said he still feels survivor’s remorse for not being in class that day. He does not experience flashbacks like some of the others, but he feels for his classmates.

To Godsey, diversity is what defines NIU to him.

“We have all great ideas, and it’s a good idea to have a wide variety of them so we can think of great answers in the future,” Godsey said.

BRIANA PALMER

Whenever Briana Palmer sits in a large classroom, she gets nervous and anxious. That feeling increases whenever someone walks in late.

It is a side effect of her experience on Feb. 14. But the help she received in the days and weeks following has helped the sophomore undecided major cope.

“I think of something that makes me happy,” Palmer said. “My friends [and] my family, my interests in studying overseas.” But it wasn’t just her loved ones that reached out to her. Palmer said she has received help from people she did not expect would help.

“Everyone here has shown kindness,” Palmer said.

Large classrooms and late arrivals are not the only things that make her nervous. She said she’s transported back to that day if she retraces her route out of Cole Hall. Lately, she added, the cold weather has been reminding her, too.

But the events of that day have renewed her determination to study abroad in Japan and China.

“It made me realize that I want to achieve my dreams,” Palmer said, adding that she will be studying in China over the summer and will then spend a year in Japan.

Like the others, Palmer has embraced “carpe diem” as her motto.

“You never know what can happen, so I’m living my life to the best and fullest that I can,” Palmer said.

HAROLD NG

Harold Ng described his life right now as being “kinda like paparazzi or even some sort of local celebrity.”

He finds it strange that so many people recognize him, even though he does not know who they are.

“It is also weird to have so many people want to talk to me and get my account of what happened that day,” Ng said.

Ng received head wounds during the shootings. Even as he was sitting in Neptune Central that day being treated for his wounds, he had a smile on his face as he joked with a few of his friends. After being seriously asked what else he needed, he said, “PlayStation 3” with a smirk.

Ng, a communications major and English minor, is hoping to graduate next year.

Until then, he is working on videos, seen at www.youtube.com/aznvincecarter51, that show his “versatility as a random, funny Asian kid.”

When not on YouTube, he likes to play basketball and goes to his church, Baptist Campus Ministry, every Sunday where he is involved as a worship leader.

DANIEL CIAMPRONE

Daniel Ciamprone didn’t want the shootings to dictate his actions.

“I tried to stay the same and not let the incident change my life,” he said. “It was important for me to survive not only in the classroom but then afterward in everyday life.”

Ciamprone, a sophomore journalism major, said that he felt for the victims and their families but didn’t let the tragedy defeat him.

“I definitely thought about it in the weeks after — I went through my own ways of healing,” he said. “I replayed it in my head and thought about the victims, but I didn’t dwell on it too long. I didn’t want it to weigh me down.”

Ciamprone also felt it important to attend all classes when they resumed, despite having three of five classes in lecture halls.

“At first when I sat down, it was like deja-vu to be in a large audience,” Ciamprone said. “But after the first few minutes I was fine; it didn’t affect me too much.”