Adelphi University student studying in Paris 'still not feeling quite safe'

An Adelphi University business student studying in Paris said Monday she still feels insecure after the brutal terror assault on the city, the worst attack on French soil since World War II.

"Still not feeling quite safe," Jie Zhang, 19, who goes by Grace, said in an email early Monday. "Paris is in panic now.

"People seize [on] little things and panic."

Friday's carnage -- gun and bomb attacks claimed by members of the Islamic State -- killed 129 people and prompted the French to launch airstrikes against the group's de-facto capital in Syria.

Zhang, an international student at Adelphi, is from China and has been in Paris for two months, studying this semester as part of the university's Levermore Global Scholars program.

School officials said over the weekend the program is for students particularly engaged in global issues.

When she was living on Long Island, she stayed with a family in Garden City, Zhang said.

Zhang said she that during the day Friday she had been close to where the one of the attacks took place "before the attack happened." By the time the terrorists attacked, she was at the home of her host family in Paris.

"I was about to sleep, then my phone started making sounds; my friends from America sent me messages asking if I'm OK," she said in her email.

Her host family turned on its television to learn of the attacks, she said.

"We stood there and watched, barefoot. Then [came] the sound of helicopter and alarms started repeating. I kept following the news."

When she finally fell asleep, she woke up to the continued sound of helicopters and alarms, she said.

Zhang, a sophomore at the Garden City university majoring in finance, is studying at the Institut Catholique de Paris, focusing on international studies. She said she has aspirations of working in business or politics in the area of U.S.-China relations.

Originally from Shanghai, her family lives in the Chinese city's countryside, Zhang said. They were not immediately aware of the terrorist attacks, because they have "very limited access" to the Internet, she said.

She said she sent them messages to assure them she was safe "in case they saw the news."

Zhang said in her email everyone she knows in Paris is fine. But she can't help but think she could easily have been one of the victims.

" . . . It's very scary to think that could be us.

"I feel sad toward those innocent people, that they just wanted to enjoy a Friday night and got killed or injured."

With Gary Dymski