Internationally, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope Francis after Pope Benedict XVI stepped down and a two-day conclave was held. Pope Francis was the first Latin American pope to be elected, focused his ministry on the poor, and was seen as the bridge to unity among Catholics.
Nationally, the largest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11 was the Boston Marathon bombing. The attack itself had injured more than 500 individuals while taking the life of 3. The terrorists behind this attack also shot and killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Officer while trying to steal his weapon. The terrorists were tried in a federal trial which resulted in one of the terrorists being sentenced to death.
Locally, the Somerville and Bridgewater area experienced a measles exposure throughout the beginning of the month of march. Those a part of the New Jersey Department of Health urged citizens to get vaccinated or, at the very least, tested for measles if they had been in the affected areas.
I had my first day of Kindergarten in September of 2013! At this point I went to public school in my town, Van Der Veer Elementary. Although I don’t remember my teacher much, I know she was very nice and I had a blast!
Along with this, my family took a trip to Disney! My mom had a friend whose timeshare was about to run out. She allowed us to use it so it wouldn’t go to waste. This is probably the only big vacation we took as a family until the summer of 2025.