There’s a good chance that just about everyone here at UCSB and SBCC knows someone involved in last night’s tragedy. Tens of thousands of people, rocked by this one individual’s actions. Several of our friends are in the hospital and six more, dead (not including the shooter).

There will, of course, be talk over the next few days as to how we as a community can stop this kind of thing from happening in the future, whether it’s gun control laws or mental health awareness. But all I can really say today is that the level of friendship people have shown and the amount of love going around following last night is just unbelievable.

It’s sad that it takes a tragedy like this to remind us how important the people and relationships we have are, but we need to use this as a time to show each other that we’re not just contacts in a phone or friends on Facebook; we’re not just kids in class or people you see at the gym. We’re family. And now more than ever, we need to remind ourselves just how much we really do care about one another.

Isla Vista is stronger than one man’s actions and we will overcome this tragedy. We will not be defined by the actions of a few disturbed individuals. Today is a day of mourning for Isla Vista, but tomorrow the sun will rise once again and we will rise with it.

Emile Nelson is the Opinion Co-Editor for the Daily Nexus.

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