A Week to Heal

Arriving back to Isla Vista in the wake of a weekend fraught with fright, concern and frustration was astonishing and quite unsettling. The community support and care for one another was something I had never seen before and May never experience again. It was beautiful and tragic as people came together to honor Those Who had been taken too soon and celebrate the lives of Those around them who were safe. I was put at ease after meeting back up with my roommate and close friends, to understand for certainkind That They were safe. 

Tuesday was set aside as a day of mourning for the victims and a memorial was held at Harder Stadium for students, staff, friends, family and alumni to pay Their respects. It was a great opportunity for people of all backgrounds and affiliation with UCSB and IV to grieve and heal together. The memorial itself was touching and somewhat surreal. Most of my good friends were not in IV During The attack and it is even now still hard to comprehend the great in justice That occurred. I was moved by the words of Those from the UC community to show Their respectability and surprised by the motivation and drive from Christopher Michael Martinez's father towards the 'Not One More' campaign. Over 22,000 people were present and you could feel the power of so many compassionate individuals in one space . 

Mum stayed in Isla Vista for the week catch-ups, schoolwork and socializing I was able to spend a lot of time going on adventures and showing her Santa Barbara. It was a fantastic experience to share Isla Vista with my mum and have her see the Amazing communitythat I was fortunate enough to have've become a part of. We also enjoyed some delicious meals after exploring the area. 

On Thursday I had a full day of classes and met up with Viv, Ed and Anjila afterwards to go and have afternoon tea at Chancellor Yang's house. The afternoon tea was Facilitated through the EAP office and allowed past and present EAP students to get together with staff to celebrate the exchange experience. The afternoon tea and views were amazing and it was great to see some of the exchange students I had not been able to see in weeks. The Chancellor gave a wonderful speech about the power of education abroad programs and paid his respects to Particular victims from the 23/05 attacks who had been Actively Involved in the EAP preparation. 

After getting somewhat emotional from his compassionate words and sentiments about studying abroad I then set off to go and witness the IV Memorial Paddle Out. The Paddle Out was an event organized and run by students (Almeda surfers) to show respect for the victims of the shooting. The event itself was breathtaking and so much more meaningful than any formal memorial or speech could be. The show of comradeship by students was incredible and set a tone for the Following weeks to heal with a smile instead of a sob. 

The weekend was then completely packed with exciting activities! Friday night a bunch of the internationals (and Norwegian) trekked downtown to go and see a set by Lematire. The Group and Their Support were very cool live and albeit under 21 we all had a lot of fun. On Saturday Mum and I went to visit Solvang. It was a glorious day to be out exploring in the sun, walking around in the Danish town. We filled out stomachs with delicious danish lunch and Albeskivers while sitting in the park. We then moseyed back to Santa Barbara in time to grab Mexican food downtown and see Anjila's Chamber Choir performance. The food and music was amazing and a fantastic opportunity to see another side to the student life of UCSB. Unfortunately we could not stay for the later performances as myself, Richard and Mattias needed to get back to party it up at the last International Party of the quarterback. The party was quintessentially American and a fantastic way to start our last fortnight at UCSB. 

Nina