Seung Hui Cho, a South Korean, was determined to be responsible for the massacre that occurred at Virginia Tech (VT) on April 16, 2007. With pistols that he purchased several weeks ago, he turned the campus into a shooting gallery that took the lives of 32 VT students as well as his very own.

What went on in the mind of this young man? What could possibly drive him to a mentally depressed state that ultimately lead to him to snap as he did? Is it possible that he did not have a good home life? Was he a victim of bullyism in school similar to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the students to whom Cho refers as martyrs, from the Columbine incident?

Is society too quick to condemn Mr. Cho for the shootings or is there something more that needs to be investigated? We could speculate that Mr. Cho had psychological problems stemming from his childhood.

In fact, it was later reported after the shooting spree that Seung Hui Cho was a victim of taunting by fellow classmates while he was in school shortly after his arrival in the U.S. in 1992. Due to his lack of command of the English language, classmates mocked him for "having something in his mouth" while he talked.

Could it be surmised that years of these taunts drove Cho into depression? Is it possible that these taunts were a form of verbal bullyism inflicted on him? Did he try to fit in and was ultimately rejected because of looking too "Oriental?" Was he rejected for his supposed "speech impediment?"

These are a small number of many unanswered questions that could have lead Cho to explode beyond the words he described in his creative writing classes. In fact, I believe that he is referring to members of the American mainstream society in his video manifesto. Specifically, the "you" is the all-American rich kids that he talks about. He envied their lifestyle. He envied their "gold necklaces" and their "trust funds" because he did not have them as he was growing up.

The fact that he is Asian, looked different, and spoke a different language than his peers may have alienated him from his fellow classmates. Being a foreigner in a new land and new school could have been psychologically intimidating for him. Not knowing what to say, how to act, or how to dress around these people could have contributed to his depression.

First of all, language must have placed a psychological barrier between him and his classmates. It is possible that this wall was placed not only by Mr. Cho upon his arrival to the U.S., but also by his classmates who felt that it was easier to make fun of him rather than reach out to him and be his friend.

Secondly, his foreign looks may have caused him to withdraw from the mainstream American society. In my high school days, I knew a classmate who was born with a harelip and had problems verbalizing herself clearly and effectively. If you could hear her talk, it DID sound like she had a speech problem. One found it hard to understand her. Academically, she was the smartest person among all of us yet she was withdrawn because of her birth feature. Fortunately, for me and my classmates, this person did not take out her frustrations with a semi-automatic. In fact, when I got to know her better in chemistry class in college, she studied to become an electrical engineer and is now working for one of the biggest companies in the state.

It is possible that Mr. Cho, being Asian in an all-white school, felt the same way. He looked different. Many of my Asian friends I have known over the years reported being prejudiced by their Caucasian counterparts while they were in grade school. They were the subject of ridicule because their hair was too dark, or their parents spoke with funny accents, or their lunch food was untradeable because it smelled too funny. Little things like these can take its toll on a person's mind. How we choose to deal with those years of torment is the subject of this week's Virginia Tech rampage.

Mr. Cho simply could not take it anymore. If I interpret his video manifesto correctly, I believe that he was filled with years of torment that lead to this week's mass killings. He did not have a lot of people who wanted to befriend him when he was 8 years old upon his arrival in 1992. His manifesto showed he had rage filled in his eyes. Years of age that built up from the kinds of verbal, psychological, and social abuse that he reluctantly received. He felt that the only way to get revenge was with a firearm. In fact, vengeance was his motive against those "brats."

He did not have the expensive cognac nor did he know nice women who would give him the time of day. Who would if he was stalking them? Perhaps he was jealous of the lifestyle of mainstream American society since he grew up in a poor country. His parents were poor in South Korea and decided to move to the U.S. in search of a better lifestyle. When he tried to achieve that lifestyle by first trying to "fit in," he was rejected from the beginning 15 years ago.

I believe that Mr. Cho had a right to lash out with WORDS, but not with BULLETS. Anybody who goes to that extreme seriously must have failed to get some professional help. A cry for help was seen in his previous writings that should have prompted university officials to bar him from attending classes pending the outcome of a thorough psychological evaluation. It is also my belief that the school system failed to give him enough treatment for his problems. No doubt there will be lawsuits stemming from this week's incident against the university.

Because Mr. Cho failed to get what he needed from his psychologists or psychiatrists he found no other solution. He was "backed into a corner," as an eloquent Mr. Cho puts it. Mr. Cho's death was the ultimate price he had to pay for failing to get the treatment he so direly needed for the years of frustration bottled up in his mind, heart, and soul.