The Californian Dream had been a concept that had been lingering in my being for my so far two decades of life. Bred on the deeply mystical, yet saturated shores of Ireland, my upbringing involved the wavering between a mild, drizzly climate, stormy red warnings involving blustery downpours and dark lingering, stretches of frost. Daydreams fuelled by escapism brought me to a west coast lined with sandy coastlines, the promise of sunshine and the assurance of adventure. The California coast beckoned, and I found myself propelled in the direction of a summer nuanced by a new kind of vitality and exhilaration for life. Finally, the day had arrived. I remember it so vividly. I had reached my final flight and was wedged in between a movie director and a journalist. The plane began its graceful descent toward a slightly hazed Los Angeles during which the movie director, full of a blissful, cinematic energy, enthusiastically pointed out various acclaimed attractions. “There’s the Observatory”, he cheerfully pointed as my eyes, full of wonder darted across the bustling city below. My final destination would be the University town of Isla Vista. Lying just north of LA and a short twenty minutes from the wonderful Santa Barbara. Research prepared me for an earthy but vibrant town full of a youthful eagerness for life. However, as my long awaited day of departure drew nearer, my unavoidable excitement had been brought to an abrupt halt. Suddenly, Isla Vista became the epicentre of worldwide headlines detailing the occurrence of a catastrophic University massacre in which the lives of seven students were brought to a chilling end. Through the eyes of the perpetrator this was an act of revenge. The final strike in an internal battle, targeted toward those perceived to have been situated on a different stratum within the social hierarchy of the American University. To the outsider, this was an act not only of unthinkable, unreasonable doing, but an act that would send the iciest of shivers down one’s spine. Much to the dismay of society, attacks of similar nature were no stranger to the media, however, for the first time, my world would confront this world. Like yesterday, the scent of the dry sun as it hit against the warm pavement lingers in my mind. The sound of passing skateboards and bikes of summer school students along with distant, muffled music played by a daytime college party combined to create the perception of the carefree youthfulness that was so much sought after. However, as I stepped out of the car to my temporary, but new home nothing could extinguish the lingering weight that hung like thick smog in the air. Like shards of despair, emblems in the form of mournful candles, decaying flowers and now faded chalk markings with names and wishes for the deceased now lined the streets. Remnants of the act that had taken place no more than one week before, now lying lifeless, dormant. I shuddered. While, although a late bystander to the event, a deep mourning took place. The fragility of human life never felt so poignant. Ill prepared for such harrowing realities I was forced to confront the darker side of human nature, the side that destroys. I attempted to understand the why behind an action that, to the outsider appeared to be steeped in a thoughtless arbitrariness, yet resulted in something so permanent, so final. I failed to draw a satisfactory conclusion. Undoubtedly, such an introduction set a rather strange tone to the three months that lay ahead. The grappling with life’s harsher realities adding a layer of depth to the Californian experience. However, as time went on, although the weight of the event never fully dispersed, with life’s delicacy so prominent, so life’s beauty became apparent. The importance of ceasing each day became not only a reality but a necessity. Each opportunity, experience and moment to be lived was grasped with a new level of profundity and substance geared toward embracing each moment to the full. And with that, each moment that summer was fervently ceased as the privilege of every sunset watched, mountain climbed, and star gazed at as it danced fearlessly across the sky was absorbed with a depth like never before.