ASIJ 7th Grade Student Experience

Today is the 5th anniversary of the 3.11 disaster. I am sitting in my Japan Seminar class remembering the day it happened and praying for the lives that were lost as well as for those that were changed from that day on. I remember I was in my PE swimming class that day and we had to practice going down to the bottom of the deep end, holding our breath, and coming back up. While my partner was down there, our PE teacher started yelling "Earthquake! Earthquake! Get out!" It didn't feel like a very big earthquake but I yelled at my friend to come back up. She couldn't hear me but as her 7th grade lung capacity wasn't so big, she came up to catch her breath. I told her we had to evacuate and that it was not a drill so we climbed out of the pool immediately and ran out in our swimsuits to the outside of our school building. We were still dripping wet and the Senior high school students were taking pictures of us and laughing, but eventually gave us their jackets as it was still quite cold in March. The buses outside were rocking back and forth and the earthquake lasted longer than expected. When we got the chance, we went back, put on some cloths and evacuated to the high school field where we met with our advisory groups. Some kids were crying, some were sleeping, and most were just chatting. We finally got on the bus to go home and it took us hours longer than usual. We stopped at a convenient store to get something to eat at around 7pm and saw that almost all of the convenient stores were wiped out. Once we got some snacks, we got back on and slept or talked until we arrived home. My best friend, who was my swimming partner, and I arrived at her house at around 12am, since I was having sleepover at my friend's house that night. The next morning we woke up, ate some French toast and turned on the news. I remember seeing an image of a huge tsunami completely destroying the northern cities and clips of the earthquake. I was in shock. For us, it was just a huge earthquake, but for the people up north in the Tohoku region, it was utter destruction. I couldn't believe it. Only thinking about what was happening around me, I didn't understand the gravity of the situation during the earthquake. Now, it is five years later, and we must not forget for people are still suffering the consequences of the huge disaster. I continue to go up to help farmers whose crops were destroyed and to cook for the elderly who still have to live in temporary housing. For us, it was just one day, but for them it became their lives. We must continue to lend a hand. We must continue to work together. We must never forget.