For sophomore Dariya Fadeeva and other residents in Beslan, Russia, every shot fired was aimed at someone they loved.For Fadeeva, that someone was her sister Alia.

On the day of the attack, Fadeeva remembers helping her 12-year-old sister with her hair before the nationally celebrated first day of school. Known as the Day of Knowledge, the event is meant to celebrate peace and friendship.

However, on Sept. 1, 2004, the small town of Beslan would not be celebrating like the rest of Russia.

Terrorists from the nearby republic of Checnya took control of the local school, filled with 1,200 children, parents and teachers, for three days. Fadeeva and other Beslan citizens watched in horror as the terrorists forced the hostages into a gymnasium and barricaded themselves inside using humans as shields.

“Everyone had someone in this school, someone that they knew,” Fadeeva said. “This just touched everyone.”

A desire to encourage cultural understanding led Fadeeva to CBS News reporter Jonathan Sanders, and eventually TCU.

Sanders, who is fluent in Russian, traveled to Beslan to interview residents for a documentary called “Three Days in September” about the attack. Fadeeva saw Sanders sitting by the Beslan City Hall and approached him, speaking English as a dare by one of her friends.

“We talked for a while,” Sanders said. “I said to her, ‘Tell me about your life in English.'”

Sanders and the other film producers thought Fadeeva’s story would make a great interview in the documentary. He spent months with Fadeeva and her family while recording interviews by her and many other residents. She also narrated some parts of the siege re-enacted for the film.

“Dariya is a natural communicator,” Sanders said, “She understands the universality of what her sister went through.”

In May, Fadeeva traveled to Tribeca Film Festival in New York City, where the documentary was being screened.

There, she met more members of the CBS News team including TCU alumnus Bob Schieffer. He suggested Fadeeva consider attending TCU.

Since Fadeeva had already attended school in the United States once – as an exchange student in Euless – she visited her host family and toured the TCU campus.

“The first day, I knew that I was going to love this life,” Fadeeva said, beaming.

Her host mother, Susan Thompson, had the same impression as Fadeeva.

“I think the people impressed her most,” Thompson said. “Everyone was so helpful. I think she liked the fact that she felt so welcome.”

Karen Scott, director of international admissions, said she was impressed with Fadeeva’s unique background. She said Fadeeva has a strong sense of determination and persistence.

“She’s done things that most 18-year-olds can’t even fathom,” Scott said.

Freshman Amanda Goss, a friend of Fadeeva’s, believes that TCU is the right school for Fadeeva.

“She is always laughing, full of energy, and up for anything,” Goss said. “She is loving TCU, and I know that she plans to make the most of her time here.”

The siege, now called Russia’s Sept. 11, gave Fadeeva a strong desire to learn more about international affairs, which she is pursuing as an international economics major. The CBS News team, which she calls her CBS family, has inspired Fadeeva to minor in journalism.

“It’s just amazing that people from so far away can care so much about what happened in Beslan,” Fadeeva said.