Yesterday morning I heard the horrific news of a school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut at Sandy Hook Elementary.

28 victims, including 20 children, seven adults and the shooter, who took his life after committing the crime, were announced dead.

At first, I didn’t want to believe what I heard.

27 innocent people are now gone because of one man. 27 people’s families are now facing the loss of their loved ones because of one man. The community of Newtown is now grieving the deaths of the 27 people because of one man. Our world is now at a halt because of one man.

Adam Lanza, 20, took the lives of 20 innocent children who were from the ages of five to 10 years old. These children’s futures were stolen from them, and now their families and friends will be forever affected by this.

Not only are the family and friends affected by the shooting, but so is everyone else around the world. In fact, our very own school was deeply affected by it.

During lunch yesterday, Kamehameha Schools Maui High School gathered in the dining hall for an all-school prayer.

Kumu Lōkahi Antonio told the student body that even though we might not personally know the victims and their families, we are all family, and we are going to grieve for such a heartbreaking loss.

He explained that we, as Hawaiians, believe that everyone is family. No matter how far away, no matter who they are, we are connected as one ‘ohana.

He said that these children were our brothers and sisters. We lost 20 of our brothers and sisters yesterday.

When I realized this, my heart sank and my chest tightened. I was fighting for air to take a deep breath and relax myself. But I noticed that I wasn’t the only one feeling like this.

I scanned the dining hall as he spoke, and I could feel the hurt, anger, sadness and confusion that every student and faculty member was feeling. It was absolutely quiet, we were at a loss for words.

At that moment in time, everything came to a halt. Everything was silent, and there was an apparent heaviness in the air.

If the feeling of sadness was overwhelming during our all school prayer, I really can’t imagine what the community of Newtown is going through right now.

I feel that saying “My condolences go out to them,” just isn’t enough. Saying something like that is nowhere near to how sad I am for the victims’ families and the entire community of Newton.

The most terrifying nightmare, the scariest thought and the event that no one would want, happened in the town of Newton.

After constantly thinking about this yesterday, the biggest two questions I had were, “Why would someone ever take the lives of 27 innocent souls?” and, “How is the community of Newtown ever going to recover from such a tragic event?”

Sadly, for the first question, I don’t think I will ever understand why Adam Lanza did such a terrible and disgusting crime.

As for the second question, I believe that Newtown, Conn., will slowly recover from this by having the support from everyone else. Our nation is going to have to come together and show our love for the victims of the shooting to help mend their broken hearts.

So at this time of such loss, I want you all to make sure that you appreciate and love everyone in your lives. You never know what could happen because life is so unpredictable.

Love those who are in your life right now, and never forget those who you lose. Never forget the 27 innocent victims.