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The flags were at half-mast at the post office this morning.  Still a little morning bleary, I could see them at the end of the street as I pulled out of my apartment complex's driveway.  As they came into focus, I wondered why, trying to recall what political figure had died.

Oh, national tragedy, I remembered.  Flags at half-mast aren't just for political figures ... and all the thoughts of the Virginia Tech massacre settled back on my shoulders and over my eyelids.

I thought about how the friends and families of the victims don't have that luxury that I had this morning -- a few moments of peaceful thoughts before the sad tragedy sunk in again.  They have to endure the thoughts all the time now.

To make myself feel better, I tried to focus on the heroic stories I've heard so far, and I thought of this one.

As a reporter, especially one who writes primarily online (I also studied online journalism in journalism school), I am so impressed with the young journalists who kept their school newspaper going online as the tragic story unfolded.

Editor & Publisher, a journal for the newspaper industry, ran an article about 21-year-old Amie Steele, the editor-in-chief of Virginia Tech's Collegiate Times.  

She had only been on the job for three weeks when the massacre occurred.  According to Editor & Publisher, the student paper has received praise for the way it has handled the difficult challenges.

The students blogged through the early phase of breaking news and then started writing longer news stories as information became available.  They added photos and video and managed to break some of the news even before the major media outlets.

Stories of people rising to the occasion and lending a helping hand in the face of disaster can be so comforting.