China Earthquake

Yesterday marked one year since the devastating earthquake in the Sichuan province. May 12, 2008, at 2:28 p.m. in China (all of China is on Beijing time).

In the middle of my class, one of my students asked if I could stop teaching for a moment of silence. The entire country was supposed to remember the earthquake for one minute, at exactly 2:28 p.m.

We all stood. She said something eloquent, and then we all remembered.

Of course, it meant something different for me. In that moment, I was there to support them, but I didn't know anyone from Sichuan. Some of the students did.

I was brought back to September 11, 2002, when there was a moment of silence in the U.S. at 9:03 a.m. Although the Sichuan earthquake was not a terrorist attack, the impact it had on the country was similar.

It was an honor to participate in this very moving moment.