LAUREN MORTON-FARMER
London Columnist
When the July 7 terrorist bombings came to London, it shook me up. After all, it was just two months before 37 of us would start the biggest adventure of our college careers, and the nearest of those four explosions occured less than two miles north of our future home.
Now, as I sit by an open window in my room on 56 Prince’s Gate, I ponder two things in my head while fighting jetlag.
One, the tiny letters etched on the charm hanging from my neck: FEARLESSNESS. One word – just 12 letters to sum up a mindset allowing me to go from bus to bus and train to train, without letting worry overcome the awesome nature of this city.
The second is a piece of advice given to us our first night here by our director, Carolyn Von Strache. “Get comfortable in your house, be comfortable in your neighborhood,” she said. “Get comfortable in your neighborhood, be comfortable in your city.”
She reminds us of this daily to make sure we don’t let fear of rule our lives.
At 19, I still have much to learn about the world. Part of me still wants to believe there is good in everyone, but I know this isn’t always the case. Those who do try to see the good in everything and everyone are children. So last night, as friends and I made our way home on a bus, waterlogged and tired from a night walking through the rain, I took special notice as a nearby boy talked with his big brother’s friend.
“Do you take the bus a lot?” asked the friend.
“No, I’m actually a bit scared to now,” the boy said.
“Yeah, but it’s such a small chance (of another bombing), and if you are on the bus that day you just got to stop and think, ‘Oh geez’ and take it,” he said with a smile to his little friend.
I think I’ll always remember that conversation. But despite everything I want to believe, I still worry. I want to believe that everything happens for a reason, and I need to believe that God won’t give us anything we can’t handle. And at the end of each day, I know He won’t, and I can trust that faith with everything I’ve got.
I know that if there are people out there trying to steal freedom and harm the innocent, so it will be. Nothing and no one is going to scare me out of waking up here each day to go live the life I have been given, and I think all the students in this house will back me up on that. We’re thousands of miles away and eight hours ahead of Malibu, but our Pepperdine family remains intact. We are bound by our faith and our excitement, and we all know we’ll be all right one way or another.
Our time here is short, but London will continue, just as it has for centuries. From old and aged to young and new, this city is a veritable stew of history and diversity.
And somewhere in there, just off of Hyde Park, in one of the historic Prince’s Gate homes, are 37 young adults eager to find what lies beyond the heavy doors of their London home. Whatever it is, it’s nothing to fear.
09-15-2005
