Man Down

 When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices; when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy. Proverbs 11:10

Who else but college students would be up late on a Sunday night to hear the news of Bin Laden's death? As the news flooded in through social networking sites and was screamed down the street, students were elated by the fact that a man we knew to fear had finally met his end.

Penn State's main campus, where several of my friends go to school, had thousands of students rejoicing in the street. I watched my twitter timeline as my friend from Fordham updated me and his other followers of how Fordham rejoiced in the news, tweeting things like "you know you're a d*** when your death brings a nation to celebration." Harsh, but true.

New Yorkers rejoiced in the news as it unfolded late Sunday night. source: NYTimes

Boston Common was bustling with excitement much like that of which was occurring outside the White House and at Ground Zero, where people showered the streets in champagne. The game against the Mets at Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia announced to spectators that the evil mastermind was dead, bringing the crowd together in jubilation.

There is no doubt that in these points of interest and scores of other places around the country, the nation is celebrating.

What more appropriate way for me to represent relocation and unity? This country has seen it before, 10 years ago when the country mourned for 9/11 victims. Last night, and today, we join together again to know that, as President Obama said, justice has been done.

This is a day for us, as Americans, to know how strong we are. We are strong in so many ways because we stand together. Being at St. John's last night proved that to me so much more. I heard the Star Spangled Banner playing like it was a brand new Wiz Khalifa party anthem. I heard my fellow students chanting "USA, USA" much similarly to the how we chant "Red Storm." I watched my Facebook newsfeed update, where my friends asked who wanted to join them to Ground Zero.

A joke played on the political situation that
made the country rejoice. source: tumblr.com

Our generation is expressing our jubilation mildly differently than the older. While the older generation is most likely watching the news and hoping to get more information, we are taking to social media, creating jokes about it and making light of a situation that has brought our country into a massive party overnight. 

All of this is history that I am witnessing first hand. All of this is making me realize that I can move around in the country, and I may tour the world, but America is always the place that will be my home. I'm proud to say that every day.