Punishment or just a plain disaster?

               On Sunday morning approximately at 5AM when I was fast asleep, I woke up from my obnoxiously loud hip hop ringtone. First glancing at the clock, I thought to myself, “Who would call at this deadly hour?” Then I couldn’t complain as soon as my sophomore friend who had been enjoying herself at Punta Cana with her sorority told me in her shaky voice—“Have you talked to Julie? Japan suffered from a massive earthquake.”

                Julie is my best friend. I know that most of us have our best friends from childhood but I’ve only known her for only four years. But during those four years, which may be short to some, she was my buddy—a friend that I could pour my heart to and really be myself during my young adolescent years, despite our differences.  She pushed me to do better in school and as friendly rivals, we would study everything together and spend every moment of high school, to the point where teachers would ask me where she was if they couldn’t find her.

                Now that we’re in college and have separate lives, it’s hard to communicate. We’re limited to BlackBerry messengers and Facebook chats. But like a young child, she would always be my best friend and I would entrust with my whole life. So when something as devastating as the earthquake occurred, I didn’t know what to do.  My first instinct was to call her but I forgot her number. Then I attempted to text her…but there was no reply.

                For a split second, I thought of the worst. No, that can’t be. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it. This is the same time where I came across diverse pool of Facebook status updates and one status stuck out to me the most, “Remember Pearl Harbor.”

                What is that supposed to mean anyway? This is the matter of life and death but to a particular person, whoever they may be, views this catastrophe as a punishment. This linked me to what we learned in class—people realize a lot through events, where you might never become aware unless something happened.

                I learned that this awareness is inconsistent between people as they vary, a lot. While a person sought this despairing moment as a lesson to be learned, I came to appreciate more for my friends and their families and the support I received from numerous friends in college.