Point Park Student Studying In Manchester: 'It's Quiet, It's Mournful'
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- As news spread of a terror attack in the United Kingdom, it really hit home for Point Park University.
About a dozen of their journalism students are there studying abroad in Manchester. In fact, they were only about two miles from the blast site.
"Manchester is quite like Pittsburgh. It's a resilient city. It's a beautiful city. People rally around each other, and I've grown really attached in the past eight or nine days," said Alex Popichak, a Point Park University student. "When you find a city that's so much like your own, and for something as tragic as this to be happening to it, it's really quite sad."
Sheehan: "And what would you say is the mood of the city right now?"
Popichak: "It's quiet. It's mournful. I'm right now standing in Albert Square, the sight of a vigil that's set to go off in about a half an hour. There are people with signs that say 'I heart MCR,' there are people who say Manchester stands united behind its people."
Sheehan: "Could you describe the scene in Albert Square?"
Popichak: "There's easily over 1,000 people gathered in front of this huge town square, which is in front of this neo-gothic building. It's bright and sunny. Not a cloud in sight, and like I said, people holding up signs just kind of mourning and getting ready to rally together."
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Sheehan: "In England, there's a pride about having a stiff upper lip. A resolve to move forward that goes back to World War II. Do you feel any of that?"
Popichak: "Yes, absolutely. Manchester is a city that when the cotton industry failed they bounced back. It's very much a city of resolve and very much a city of transformation."