{"id":36283,"date":"2018-01-29T12:00:29","date_gmt":"2018-01-29T18:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=36283"},"modified":"2018-01-29T10:59:49","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T16:59:49","slug":"testimonies-from-the-hawaiian-missile-scare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=36283","title":{"rendered":"Testimonies from the Hawaiian Missile Scare"},"content":{"rendered":"

This piece documents the reactions and experiences of various residents of Hawaii during January 13th’s incoming missile false alarm.<\/em><\/p>\n

BY MARIAH SMITH<\/p>\n

Hawai\u2019i, more specifically Oahu, holds a special place in my heart. In August of 2016, I hugged my parents goodbye and stepped onto a plane that would deliver me 3,900 miles to the beginning of what I can only call the best time of my life. I accepted the opportunity to exchange at the University of Hawai\u2019i at Manoa earlier that spring, and I had no idea what was in store for me. I was there taking Communications and Women\u2019s Studies classes from August to May of 2017. I learned much more than a class could ever teach, saw some of the most beautiful places the world has to offer, and made some amazing friends. Seeing that my friends and the aina (\u201cland\u201d in Hawaiian) could have been harmed in an instant broke my heart. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not proud to admit that on Saturday, Jan. 13, at about noon central time, I was just waking up and scrolling my social media accounts. I opened my snapchat to see almost all of my friends in Hawai\u2019i posted a story within minutes. This was odd because it was 8 a.m. there, so pretty early for everyone to be posting a snapchat. I opened the first one, my friend Jackie\u2019s story, showing a screenshot from the emergency notification on her phone. I didn\u2019t quite understand. But then I opened the second, third, and fourth ones — all similar images. That\u2019s when it started to sink in what was really happening. My heart hurt for them, I was scared. I started to send my close friends messages asking for more information and telling them to be safe — which I now realize was a futile effort to express my own concern.<\/span><\/p>\n

Within minutes, I could see my friends posting stories, again. I opened them hoping to learn more information, but thankfully found the mistake notification. I finally felt like I could breathe — and I can\u2019t imagine how relieved they felt. This was forty minutes after the missile alert went out. Forty whole minutes. Within the hour after the mistake notification was sent my social media timelines were flooded by people commenting on this incident, both on the island and the mainland (colloquial term in the islands for the continental US states). I talked to many of my friends that day, making sure they were okay and what not. After a few days had passed, I decided I would interview them to hear their actual experience as they were there. I wanted to know about what it was like to be there as it was happening, but also look into what the rest of the day was like- something normal news can\u2019t express. I wrote several people who I knew were there to see if they were interested, and then I gave myself a few days to put my questions \u201con paper.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I will say that I have some amazing friends — they are truly beautiful people, and their responses are eye-opening to say the least. Eight of them took the time to thoughtfully answer my interview questions. I will briefly describe each person, and then separate their responses by the questions that I asked.<\/span><\/p>\n