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My perspective was altered forever by the riots. Prior to the riots, I essentially carried a naive view, full of hope. What the riots did was squash that hope, and replace it with fear, shock and revulsion. No longer were all of my neighbors truly my neighbors. I felt like I had to look over my shoulder constantly. It was not only the extreme violence that had affected my outlook but also the rapidity with which the situation devolved to that violence.

In hindsight, the events instilled fear that before then I never thought possible to have. The riots showed me the ugly side of humanity. I learned that people can truly hate one another, for no apparent reason. That knowledge terrified me at the time and colored my attitudes for years afterward.

I have in recent years come to accept what happened that spring. I cannot accept the hatred, but my perspective has shifted from returning that hate to understanding what I can do to prevent such instances. I have given much thought to the role that we all play in our world. This is from the realization that as horrific as those events were, the only way we as people can move past that violence is to truly take those individual steps forward. In a roundabout way, I feel that the Indonesian riots of 1998 taught me a lot of humanity. They taught me about the hatred we can feel, and how we can turn that negative energy into something positive and productive. Indonesia today still struggles with the scars of that era. Yet, after years of feeling those scars, I do not. I merely feel that we as members of the human race have the power to rise above violence, rioting, murder and rape. The shift in my perspective has come full circle in the wake of those events. I no longer see burning buildings and screaming neighbors. I see the opportunity to build a better world where nobody has to endure that torment ever again.