Saturday, July 15, 2017

A Life-Changing Day

Interior of Kersten Hall.
Most of today was fairly normal and relaxed. After class, which ended at lunch, I went with Michelle and Kara to an underground coffee shop. Before that, I got to use the Tupperware that I bought yesterday; we brought food from the dining hall to Jahnvi at her new classroom, because she was catching up on what she missed during lunch. The physics building that she and Lindsay have class in had a very inconspicuous exterior, but was actually very interesting on the inside. I’ve seen so many different architectural styles already in the short time that I’ve been here, which I love, because diversity in scenery is something that I look for in a school.

After the physics building, we went to the coffee shop underneath the Divinity School. Michelle’s sister went here and showed it to her, so that’s how we knew where to find it. There wasn’t much space to sit, so we just got our drinks and left. The place kind of reminded me of a storeroom, because it was so small and dark.

We went up to the surface after our drinks were ready, and headed back to the dorms. All of us were hungry, but the dining room was closed and we were tired from walking all over campus, trying to find the physics class and then the Divinity School. Eventually, Michelle just decided to order food over UberEats.
The coffee shop underneath the Divinity School.
The food came, and we were eating in her room when Olivia came in and told us about what had happened. She had received an email from the school that a girl had died, and that the girl was a summer sessions student, just like us. At first, I didn’t really understand what she was saying. There were police cars at the school on Tuesday, and there have been rumors circulating that it was because a group of girls came back with one less person than they left with. I have no idea if that’s true, but people have been talking about it a little. After a while, the magnitude of what had actually happened sunk in, and all of my problems, which had seemed so big just moments before, started to feel really insignificant. We learned a couple of days ago that when an event carries large emotional impact, it lends itself better to our memory (although we have to really think about it for it to stick), so I don’t think that I’ll be forgetting this anytime soon.

1 comment:

  1. Raqeeb,
    Powerful reflection on such a tragic event. I think the class you are taking is important in helping you process it.
    Love,
    Mom/Sciacca Flocka Flame

    ReplyDelete