Today, Everyone Feels Like a Bostonian

As a first year Harvard Divinity student, I never dreamed of being sequestered by an official lock-down in Cambridge, Mass. I've always felt safe living in Harvard Square. Today, this is different. The Harvard community and residents of Cambridge lost a bit of innocence this week.

As I sit in my Cambridge condo in the midst of Harvard Square, I find myself reflecting upon the reactions of my fellow students. Harvard has an extreme abundance of intellect, but I would not consider it to have an abundance of emotion. Students at Harvard are so busy studying and keeping up with the semester syllabus; there is little time to share one's feelings with your fellow classmate. But this week, I saw emotion and today, I can even feel it.

On Monday, emotion and concern not only filled each and every face, but you can sense a shared collective pain. My fellow classmates from every corner of the world fell silent as the wide screen television flashed the breaking news. On Monday and today, everyone feels like a Bostonian.

As I awakened at 6:00 am today and read the Harvard alert, I could hear police sirens vibrating through the silence. As a native New Orleanian, these are not the emotions that I expected to feel during my Harvard experience. However, I may have learned the greatest lesson of all. This week, I learned everyone is emotionally connected and most importantly, we want to live in peace.