The next morning the campus with the return address of that acceptance letter, Virginia Tech, would capture her attention in other ways.

"When I saw (the headlines about the shootings) ... I really freaked out," said Vitale, who a former Virginia resident who now lives in Manoa.

She then called to her mother to come into the room, and they turned on the TV news. Vitale later attended math and AP chemistry classes, but was unable to fully concentrate. She had left phone messages friends and was waiting for return calls.

"The cell phones would just ring, then go to a busy signal," Vitale recalled.

The news wasn't good. Vitale said one person she knew had been among the victims. Another was injured, she said, declining to identify them.

Vitale said this morning that she's still in shock.

"It's a really quiet, calm town," the Punahou senior said of Blacksburg, Va. "I went to volleyball camp there a few summers ago. It's a really peaceful, close-knit community."

And the young man who caused the carnage, Cho Seung-Hui, was also known among Vitale's circle of friends.

"My friends had seen him around campus," she said, adding, "They tried to get him to open up and talk.."

Vitale still plans to sign the letter committing to attend Virginia Tech.

"The hardest part for me was being here, scared and upset, then talking to my friends there, who were 150 times more shocked. ... Everyone at VTech is so close, so connected," she said.

"I know the administration is going to take every precaution, and nothing like that is going to happen again. It could've happened anywhere."