Sidney Yin.

As the planes crashed into the World Trade Center, shattering thousands of families, it also broke our illusion into pieces—an illusion of safety and security. When an outbreak of anthrax began in the U.S., killing several people and infecting many others, bioterrorism shook us up and injected confusion, fear, and anger into our bodies and hearts, spreading as if these feelings were themselves an infection aimed at us and our allies throughout the world.

Juilliard students not only responded maturely to these recent horrific events; they have engaged in specific acts to counter some of the destruction that has been done to our city. Many students volunteered at hospitals, Red Cross centers, and even at ground zero. A fourth-year cello student, Sarah Koo, led some students and organized free concerts to express what they have to say through music, as well as offering something through their instruments to those who suffered and those workers who labor through the aftermath of the tragedy.

Within the student body there also exist groups of young adults who gather to talk about current issues, developing a sense of kinship and helping each other as we continue to pursue our education. The administrative staff of our school has made immediate and appropriate responses by informing students, staff, faculty, and parents with updated information about bioterrorism, its forms, causes and effects, symptoms, and precautions against it. Seminars and question-and-answer sessions were given so that our community would be supplied with sufficient knowledge. The Counseling Services and Health Office continues to give appropriate attention, guidance, and reassurance to those who are affected emotionally and physically throughout this ordeal.

Students like us who are deeply affected by these current events suffer a lot of emotional drain and stress, especially due to the nature of our field, the performing arts. We are so used to expressing our feelings through our instruments, be it a flute, violin, voice, or our own bodies. However, we have to understand that this is only one way to communicate. By channeling our thoughts and feelings so deeply to performance, we may forget to communicate directly with people. It is necessary to relate to people in order to better understand ourselves. And by talking about our thoughts and feelings out loud, we release our happiness, sadness, confusion, and frustration so that our state of mind can be balanced. If students feel strongly about something, they should talk about it with friends, family, teachers, and staff—anyone that is in our community. This is a very good way to put things into equilibrium and to settle things that bother us in the back of our minds. Sharing is the key. We live in a world, not on an isolated island, and associating with other human beings is just a normal and natural thing to do.

Sidney Yin is a third-year piano student.

Voice Box is a student opinion column appearing regularly in The Juilliard Journal. To submit a column for consideration, please e-mail it to journal@juilliard.edu with “Voice Box” in the subject heading, and include a phone number where you can be reached. Columns should cover topics of interest to the Juilliard community, and be about 500 words.