Interview with a fellow classmate
T. Rees Shapiro, CT Staff Writer
April 24 2007
Alison Mitchell, a senior Environmental Policy and Planning student at Virginia Tech, was in Bob Hicok's Intro to Short Fiction class in the spring of 2006, which Seung-Hui Cho.
In that spring a year ago she recalls there were about 20 kids in her class. The class setting was a very similar format to other English classes at Tech where students sitting in a circle, with Hicok toward the front, closest to the chalkboard, and the other students completing the ring so every person could see each other. Except for Cho, Mitchell explained.
"Cho would sit as far away as possible from the rest of us," Mitchell said. "He would sit toward the back, away from Hicok."
Mitchell described that he preferred his own personal space, and sat towards the back of the class with his head down.
"Cho avoided being near people," Mitchell said. "He isolated himself from everyone."
Most English classes involve some level of discussion. Some classes sit in a circle so everyone can see each other while they are addressing the class topics of the day.
Hicok's class was no different, except that Cho chose not to speak.
"He just sat," Mitchell said. "And looked angry all the time, a grumpy look. I could tell he was depressed. He never spoke in front of the class, which was something that bothered Hicok."
Because the class sat in a circle format, Mitchell mentioned how he looked while class was going on.
"He always looked down, but there was something about his face, his expression, it's hard to explain, his eyes, they looked angry, and he almost always frowned," Mitchell said. "He sometimes had an intensity, a fierceness, like he was thinking about a lot, but it was totally inward. It didn't look like he paid attention, he was not engaged."
His body language seemed to suck the energy from his surrounding, and apparently from himself as well.
"He moved very slowly," Mitchell said. "I definitely thought it was creepy. I would not approach him, ever, he seemed creepy. He always looked unhappy, and it wasn't like a single instance, it was everyday."
Mitchell stated that it seemed like he hated everyone, and everything and that he would sometimes glare at people whenever they spoke.
"I can remember one time he asked (Cho) a direct question in class," Mitchell said, "And he just glared at Hicok and then grunted a guttural sound, like an 'MMM.' It was like Cho was angry at Hicok for asking, for speaking to him."
However, Mitchell noted a peculiarity about the way Hicok was running the class.
"The way class was run was everyone had to participate," Mitchell said. "I definitely made an effort, he made it clear that our grade heavily depended on our class participation. He was adamant about it, that participation was really important, and it seemed to me like Hicok was aiming his speeches about class participation at Cho," she said.
Occasionally, Mitchell described, Hicok would ask Cho his opinion on something during class, to get him to speak.
"Sometimes Hicok would say, 'Cho, do you have anything to add?' and Cho would just say 'No,' in a very deep voice," Mitchell said. "It seemed like Hicok was aware of how Cho acted in other classes, like the English department people had warned him."
Mitchell then described how Cho would never answer questions directed to him in class by other students, which Hicok observed.
"Hicok would regularly speak to Cho, at least once a week, after the first few classes," Mitchell said. "Hicok asked Cho to come speak to him after the period was over. But from what I saw it looked like Hicok just talking to Cho. He didn't talk much, and seemed annoyed with Hicok whenever he did try to speak to him."
However, despite the battle with depression Cho fought Mitchell said she observed, she was still surprised to learn he was the shooter.
"I wouldn't have expected him to go and kill people," Mitchell said. "I was shocked, I didn't think he was violent. I could tell he was struggling with some emotions though."
Not only did Mitchell know Cho, but she also knew Julia Pryde, one of his fatal victims.
"I worked with Julia on a sustainable development economics project on global obesity," Mitchell said. "Julia was a pretty smart girl, who always had interesting things to say in our discussions. But it's shocking that he killed all these people,"
However, no one viewed him as a threat at first.
"But I wasn't concerned about him beforehand. Some people might have asked Hicok about his strange behavior," Mitchell said. "But I didn't; it didn't seem like it was needed then."