Terrorism: Something deeply marring, yet also something that has the power to unite a nation in a way that nothing else can. It inspires people to come together in the face of grief and show the world that they can withstand anything.

The Boston Marathon April 15 brought back many familiar imagesa��the blood, shattered glass, screaming, pain and fear that have accompany terrorism. However, it also reminded the world of those unmistakable and irrevocable values that make the U.S. the country that it is. When people think of America, they think of freedom, equality, democracy, independence and strength. They think of a nation that will defend what it believes in.

The belief that every life is important was unquestionably illustrated in the response to these explosions. Instead of fleeing, many people completely disregarded their own safety and ran back to the scene, making tourniquets and clearing debris’doing everything in their power to preserve what life they could.

Just as important, though, is avenging the lives taken by terror. The ability of our country to strike back after something so internally damaging is impressive. Officials went through hundreds of hours of footage of the area, looking for somethinga��anything, that might be related to the attacks. They found and dealt with the bombers within days.

Moreover, it is not just government officials, police officers and citizens of Boston that responded so admirably. As soon as news of the explosions was released, people from all over the country were sending their thoughts and prayers to each and every person affected by the Boston incident.

As strange and sad as it might seem, the fact is attacks such as these bring our nation together. Though the goal of terrorists is to quietly spread fear and confusion, their only real effect is creating a country that is stronger and more unified than ever before. We will forever grieve those lives lost in terrorist attacks, but we will also come together in the face of our grief.

And then we do what we can to move on. We grieve, we punish those who should be punished and we do the best we can to prepare ourselves for the future. Then, we renew our commitment to preserving the values that we hold so deara��freedom, equality, democracy, independence and strength. The United States of America will carry on.