As journalists, our first job is to disseminate news to the community. And as a page designer, I accomplish this job by creating interesting front pages that encourage the community to pick up the paper. Without an interesting front page, the paper isn’t picked up and our roles as journalists — to disseminate the news — aren’t fulfilled.

And that’s why this job is so exciting. With hard news stories rolling in, it is easy for any page designer to create a newsworthy front page, complete with an intriguing headline.

In my first job as a journalist, I was taught to get excited about tragic news, because it was the most interesting for readers. At my first job, there was a sense of excitement and surges of adrenaline when a big crime story broke. Editors had us hold the paper for such important news. My co-workers told me I’d get used to the mix of adrenaline and horror that came with working on such stories. And living in a city with enough crime to keep the presses hopping daily made it so.

When I began my job in Suffolk, I expected things to slow, which they did. I figured there had to be a lot less crime in such a sleepy city.

But, during the first summer after starting my new job, a young man was shot at a party. The tragedy was senseless and led to citywide efforts to reduce violence. I remember the news being shocking, but only because I hadn’t expected a murder so soon into my new gig. But after my first journalism job, I admit I was little numb to the tragedy.

A little over a year later, another young man was killed. He was two years older than the first murder of my tenure at the Suffolk News-Herald, and the circumstances surrounding the deaths are miles apart.

But this time, one neighbor’s reaction really stuck with me. The man, who had been sleeping at the time and didn’t hear the shots, said to our reporter, “You shouldn’t have to get used to stuff like that.”

In our job, it’s easy to shunt aside the natural human inclination to mourn in the face of death. But, what this Suffolkian said has reminded me that we shouldn’t let ourselves get truly numbed by it.

And as a community, Suffolk shouldn’t get used to violence, regardless of the circumstances. In fact, we should all continue to be shocked by murder and continue striving to prevent it through the community programs that have been created over the past year.