"But for me, it is when a student has died. I find the death of a young person the most difficult and painful of times. To explain it to other young people, to see a bright future snuffed out, is just awful. I am haunted by those deaths"

Donna Shalala is expressing the problem and pain of having to describe the death of a student to other youths. She is haunted by the deaths of these trainees, as it is a reminder of the fragility of life and the potential that was lost. She finds it especially challenging to describe the death of a young person, as it is a tip of the potential that was dispatched. She is deeply affected by the death of a student, as it is a tip of the capacity that was lost and the pain that it triggers to those left behind. Donna Shalala is revealing the problem of needing to explain the death of a student to other youths, and the pain that it triggers to those left behind.