(23 Apr 2014) Time at Danwon High School in the Korean city of Ansan appeared to have stopped over the past eight days.
But now it faces the grim reality of having to resume classes on Thursday even as it continues to mourn the deaths of many of its second-year students and teachers in a ferry accident.
Rescue and recovery operations are still ongoing eight days after the Sewol ferry, carrying over 300 Danwon High School students, listed into the waters off South Korea's southwestern coast.
The official death toll reached 150 on Wednesday, though a government official said divers were preparing to rip through cabin walls to retrieve more victims.
More than three-quarters of the 323 students are dead or missing.
Empty classrooms at Danwon High School and notes pleading for students to return safely are haunting reminders of what the rest of the student body must face on Thursday.
"There is not just sadness, but also a lot of guilt. There are also a lot of emotions of anger and rage. Also, some students cannot even express their emotions, and are in a dazed state," said school psychiatrist Hong Hyun-ju.
The school will be doing its best to help the students through their grief and shock while attempting to normalise classes by providing psychiatry sessions.
"(We are trying to help) the children overcome the shock and loss they are going through. And we are providing an intensive psychiatry programme to prevent any second round of after-effects that may occur," said Hong.
Funerals for students and teachers continue in Ansan and a temporary memorial altar opened on Wednesday, a grieving reminder of the loss of young lives in the community.
The chrysanthemums and notes praying for a miracle that surround the school's main gate indicate that the healing will be a long process.
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