story4161.xml
Title
story4161.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
One year ago today, I was one month into an 11-month Masters of Accountancy program at the University of Georgia.
I left at 8:30, as usual, for class that morning, stopping to take care of an errand before going on to class. Following my usual routine, I parked in the graduate student lot and crossed the street to the Baptist Student Union (BSU) on campus. This place was my second home while in college, and I went there every day to ?hang out? until my class started at 9:30. The only thing I remember as different that morning was that I had the car radio off and was enjoying some peace and quiet during the ride to campus.
Today?s arrival on campus was different. My roommate, who had left 10 minutes after me and was parked at the BSU, came running up to me. ?A plane flew into one of the World Trade Center towers,? she shouted at me, surprised by what had happened. Thinking it was some accident or error, we headed into the building and turned on the TV. Along with two of the organization?s campus ministers who also arrived at about the same time, we watched the first tower burning and watched in horror as the second tower was hit right before our own eyes. I cannot tell you exactly how I felt at that moment, but I can say that I will never forget that moment. I?m still not sure what hit first ? anger, shock, sadness, fear, or maybe it was all of those. How could anyone willingly do this? I wondered. Who could intentionally seek to take any so many innocent lives? I also struggled with my questions to God ? why? I am a Christian and believe that a purpose lies in everything, but at that moment, I wasn?t sure I understood what it was.
Despite our feelings, class and exams at 9:30 for both my roommate and me required us to go to class. I can look back now and say that was the hardest test I have even had to take, and I can?t even remember now what it covered. In the middle of my exam, the professor told us of the attack on the Pentagon and said that if anyone needed to leave, he or she was free to go?.might have been a better idea to let us go sooner, since it was difficult to concentrate.
The rest of the day was pretty much a blur?calling family in Atlanta and up North to make sure everyone was okay, waiting in line to give blood only to find a one to two week wait, seeing the faces at BSU gathered around the television set, saddened and confused.
My parents and others in their generation talk about remembering exactly where they were and what they were doing when President Kennedy was assassinated. It was understandably a painful memory, but I didn?t really understand until one year ago today. I remember so much of that day because our lives as Americans changed one year ago. I realize now that we are not exempt from terror, and it hurts to think that people suffer through this daily around the world. I will remember that day as long as I live and be grateful every day that I am alive and able to enjoy my freedoms as an American. I don?t know that I really appreciated what it means to live here until now, and my hope is that this memory will never let me forget.
I left at 8:30, as usual, for class that morning, stopping to take care of an errand before going on to class. Following my usual routine, I parked in the graduate student lot and crossed the street to the Baptist Student Union (BSU) on campus. This place was my second home while in college, and I went there every day to ?hang out? until my class started at 9:30. The only thing I remember as different that morning was that I had the car radio off and was enjoying some peace and quiet during the ride to campus.
Today?s arrival on campus was different. My roommate, who had left 10 minutes after me and was parked at the BSU, came running up to me. ?A plane flew into one of the World Trade Center towers,? she shouted at me, surprised by what had happened. Thinking it was some accident or error, we headed into the building and turned on the TV. Along with two of the organization?s campus ministers who also arrived at about the same time, we watched the first tower burning and watched in horror as the second tower was hit right before our own eyes. I cannot tell you exactly how I felt at that moment, but I can say that I will never forget that moment. I?m still not sure what hit first ? anger, shock, sadness, fear, or maybe it was all of those. How could anyone willingly do this? I wondered. Who could intentionally seek to take any so many innocent lives? I also struggled with my questions to God ? why? I am a Christian and believe that a purpose lies in everything, but at that moment, I wasn?t sure I understood what it was.
Despite our feelings, class and exams at 9:30 for both my roommate and me required us to go to class. I can look back now and say that was the hardest test I have even had to take, and I can?t even remember now what it covered. In the middle of my exam, the professor told us of the attack on the Pentagon and said that if anyone needed to leave, he or she was free to go?.might have been a better idea to let us go sooner, since it was difficult to concentrate.
The rest of the day was pretty much a blur?calling family in Atlanta and up North to make sure everyone was okay, waiting in line to give blood only to find a one to two week wait, seeing the faces at BSU gathered around the television set, saddened and confused.
My parents and others in their generation talk about remembering exactly where they were and what they were doing when President Kennedy was assassinated. It was understandably a painful memory, but I didn?t really understand until one year ago today. I remember so much of that day because our lives as Americans changed one year ago. I realize now that we are not exempt from terror, and it hurts to think that people suffer through this daily around the world. I will remember that day as long as I live and be grateful every day that I am alive and able to enjoy my freedoms as an American. I don?t know that I really appreciated what it means to live here until now, and my hope is that this memory will never let me forget.
Collection
Citation
“story4161.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed April 10, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/10683.