When Brown University junior Mia Tretta’s phone buzzed with an emergency alert during finals week, she hoped it was just a false alarm. Having survived a mass shooting at Saugus High School in California in 2019, Tretta had been shot in the abdomen as two students lost their lives and others were injured. On a recent Saturday, while studying in her dorm, she was struck with the horrific realization that another mass shooting unfolded at her university, resulting in two fatalities and nine injuries.

Tretta's recollections of lockdown protocols and her trauma resurfaced harshly as she received a series of alerts instructing students to lock their doors and stay away from windows. “No one should ever have to go through one shooting, let alone two,” she remarked emotionally, emphasizing the burdens she and her fellow survivors carry.

Her experience reflects a disturbing reality faced by many students today—those who have lived through multiple mass shootings, including survivors of the 2018 Parkland shooting who later encountered violence at Florida State University.

Amidst the horror, Tretta has become an advocate for stricter gun regulations, particularly aimed at “ghost guns.” At Brown, she was engaged in academically exploring the lived experiences of shooting survivors just before the latest incident struck her.

“I chose Brown, a place that I love, because it felt like somewhere I could finally be safe and normal in this new normal that I live as a school shooting survivor,” she expressed, underlining the tragic irony of her situation. Despite her hopes, Tretta now finds herself once again woven into a narrative of violence and loss in educational environments.}