As the holiday break approached, 21-year-old Mia Tretta was studying in her Brown University dorm with a friend when an alert from campus police interrupted the calm. The message warned of an active shooter nearby, instantly throwing the campus into lockdown.
For most students, the alert was terrifying. For Mia, it reopened a trauma she thought she had left behind.
Brown University Survivor Faces Trauma Again
Mia is a Brown University survivor who has lived through a school shooting before. In 2019, while attending Saugus High School in Santa Clarita, California, she was shot in the stomach during a mass shooting carried out by a fellow student.
Two students were killed, including Mia’s best friend. At just 16 years old, she spent more than a week in the hospital recovering from her injuries. Years later, she still has bullet fragments in her body and has undergone multiple surgeries for nerve damage and a ruptured eardrum.
The experience shattered her sense of safety and permanently altered how she views the world.
“Everyone always tells themselves it’ll never be me,” Mia said. “Until it is.”
Campus Shooting Rekindles Fear for Students
Attending Brown University in Rhode Island was meant to offer distance and healing. Moving across the country helped Mia believe she could finally feel safe again.
That belief disappeared when the campus alert arrived.
“Gun violence doesn’t care if you’ve already been shot,” she said. “It doesn’t care what community you’re in. It’s an epidemic that affects everyone.”
Mia is not alone. Several students at Brown have now experienced more than one school shooting, reflecting a growing and disturbing reality for young Americans.
How Gun Violence Affects College Campuses
Today’s students have grown up practicing active shooter drills in classrooms. What was once unthinkable has become routine.
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley addressed the situation during a press conference, sharing a conversation with one injured student who said high school active shooter drills helped them survive.
While the comment offered some reassurance, it also underscored how frequent campus shootings have become. Safety planning now exists because violence is no longer rare.
Police remain visible across the Brown University campus, even after the lockdown was lifted, reinforcing the sense of unease among students.
Why Students Demand Safer Universities
Mia says the emotions following the incident include fear, anger, and confusion. She believes mass shootings should never be accepted as part of everyday life in the United States.
Students across campus echoed similar feelings. One student preparing to leave for the holidays said the shooting shattered what once felt like a protected environment.
“Our perfect bubble just broke,” the student said.
For Mia, survival does not mean healing is complete. Her story reflects a generation calling for change, accountability, and safer universities where learning does not come with fear.
