story8479.xml
Title
story8479.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-10-17
911DA Story: Story
September 11th, 2001, was a very tragic and emothional day for the united States of America. What started out as a normal everyday Tuesday, turned into a day that will be remembered in U.S. history forever. As a twelve-year-old, most people do not think about the horrifying lives and tragic deaths that other people in other countries may experience every single day of their lives. On the day of September 11th, those types of expreiences became reality for the people of the United States. That Tuesday and the following days were lived in fear, confusion and sorrow. The lives of the others that we had never given one thought to, suddenly becaome ours. As we grow older, we tend to forget things that have happened in out past. September 11th will be a day that everyone will remember forever, while the other memories slowly float off to the past.
The way that I witnessed September 11th may seem a bit coincidental to some people. When the first plane hit the first building of the World Trade Center, at 8:48 a.m., I, along with 29 of my classmates, were walking doen the stairs from math class to a bus-evacuation safety drill. As we got on the bus, everybody was really wild adn goofing off because we did not have any idea of what had happened. While the bus driver, Ken was trying to get us to quiet down, we continued not to listen to him, because we thought, "Oh this is no big deal, we have done this a million times." I can still remember the words Ken spoke when telling us of the horrible thing that had just occured. He said, "Boys and girls, if you think bus safety is an issue to be taken lightly, just listen. A few minutes ago, aplane that left from Boston, heading toward the West Coast, changed direction and crashed into the World Trade Center Building at full speed." I was sitting next to my friends Caitlin and Aj when he told us. We turned to each othe in disbelief. We thought Ken was just making up this cruel story to make us quiet down and listen to him. When we got off the bus and back into our school, we knew something was seriously wrong. Most of out teachers were crying and the students around us were all confused and scared. We went back up to our math class adn our teacher, Mrs.Tanona, turned on the television to the news. While watching the news, I realized that the awful fact had suddenly become my reality. By the time we had gotten back up to the school, the second pland had already hit the second World Trade Center building at 9:03 a.m. We heard the news about a third plane hitting the Pentagon, at 9:43 a.m., witnessed the collapse of the south World Trade Center tower at 10:05 a.m., a fourth plane crashing in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and witnessed the collapse of the north tower at 10:28 a.m. The rest of the school day, needless to say, we did not do any schoolwork. Our teachers were very helpful and conforted us. They answered any question we had and told us that everything was going to be okay. Our day at Marlborough Middle School was one filled with sorrow, stories about New York City, and confusion.
After school, I had soccer practice. Soccer praactice was similar to my day at school: questions, answers, and comfort. When I got home, my mother, stepfather, brother, and I had discussions about the tragic day. They had answers and facts I had not heard before. That night, at home, we received countless phone calls from family and friends to make sure we were okay. My father and stepmother live in Oregon, my stepfather's family lives in Canada, and the reast of my family is spread out across the United States. My stepfather works in New York City at the Cornell Medical School. He comes home on weekends and sometimes for a week at a time. I am so grateful every single day my stepfather was in Marlborough that Tuesday instead of in New York City.
My life has changed a great deal because of September 11th, not just as a person, but as part of a nation, and asd a friend. My values have also changed. During the last school year, there were many events I learned lessons from. School, friends, parents, teachers and even sports have taught me many valuable things. September 11th, 2001, was by fat the most life-changing event last year for me. On September 11th, many people thought it was going to be a normal day. It turned into a living nightmare. People young and old, black and white, perished out of hatred and jealousey. None of those people deserved to die, but they did becaose of the envy someone else felt for the United States of America. Because of the great loss an September 11th, I not only feel sorrow, but I also learned some very important lessons for life.
The first lesson, or virtue that I have taken to heard and soul is to be grateful for what you have. Although the people who did this terrible deed devastated the UNited States, they also taught us to be grateful. One may assume the people responsible wanted to give us a little bit of what they go through every day of their lives. As citizens of the most powerful country in the world, we do not realize the harships and tragedies other people go through every day. Our concerns are more centered upon whether or not our outfits match or "I need some more CDs because I love this one song on this one CD". Our concerns do not even touch the subject, "Am I going to get to eat tomorrow or will I have to wait another week?" We do not need to question whether we are going tohave enough food or water to survive the rest of the week or if we have enough clothers on our bodies to survive the winter. In many nations world wide, people are starving, thirsty and cold with no clothers or electricity to warm them. These basic necessities are part of most of our daily lives. Although we may take them for granted, there might come a day when we do not have those things. So, as a lesson to have for life, be grateful for what you have and never take anything for granted.
My second lesson is never miss a chance to say, "I love you", for there will come a time whe ntomorrow never comes. Many of tge people who died, probably did not ge to say "good morning" or "goodbye" to their loved ones. They probably thought, "Oh, I do not want to wake them up, I will se them later". Or, their loved ones may have been angry and did not say "goodbye" or "I love you". Just think, has there ever been a time when you were mad at your parents, friends or children and you never said "I love you" and "goodbye" to them? Then, the next thing you know, your loved one is gone and you did not take that little moment to let go of your anger just enough to say "I love you". I think a lot of people take their families for grated and are even sometimes wanting to get away from them as soon as possible. But then when you think about all of the people in other countries who have no parents because we bombed their country of went to way with them, I wonder how anyone can take their families for granted. I think to myself how lucky I am to have two parents and two stepparents and a family who loves me and will support me in anything I do. If you have ever thought you were unlucky to have parents or thought they were overprotective, you should just think about how much they love you and how luucky you are to have parents who care about you. The second lesson I learned was no matter how angry you are, opr even if you are not angry, just take the time to say, "I love you".
The third, and maybe most important lesson, I learned from September 11th, is respect, honor and bravery for yourself, others, the environment and your country. All of the people who dies should go to their graves with honor and respect. Some people perished our of hatred, while others perished from trying to help save the life of someone else and for that I honor them. I wish that in this world there would be more people who would act with the same courage and bravery that the rescuers and heroes displayed. They died trying to save the lives of others, while many other people did just turn and run in horror. The heroes also dies to try and help our great nation. This showed they had respect for others and their country. Those people are heroes acted with respect and bravery and for that I honor and respect them. So, the third lesson I take to heart is respect, honor and bravery for yourself, others, the environment and your country.
Although many people perished and were hurt, the people all around he should should have learned something from it. People, families and our nation were torn apart because ot someone else's hatred and envy. For the people that stood a little above the others to try and help, thatnk you, I owe you freatly for the lessons and virtues you taught to me and to the rest of the world.
September 11th wa a bhit of a wake-up call to people of the United States. It showerd them the world is not just made up of people that have everything they need, like most of the people in the United States have. Because of September 11th, I have been thinking about these kinds of things a lot. If you believe for one minute you will always have everything that you need, I believe you should seriously reconsider. Just because you have it now, does not mean you are always going to have it. Your life can change in the blink of an eye. You can have everything on moment, and nothing the next. All of the people who were affected by September 11th had their whole lives changed in a split second. They lost loved ones, money and some even lost their spirit to live. The people around me have also changed because of September 11th. September 11th opened the eyes of everyhbody whether they realize it or not. I can defenitely see a change in the way a lot of people live their lives and how they view things. Because of September 11th, 2001, I feel that my life, personality and values have chnged drastically.
There are a lot of things that should be remembered about the morning of September 11th, 2001. I do not feel the sorrow, such as the number of people who dies, should be dwelled upon the most. It should defenitely be remembered, but I do not think 50 or so years from now people should be saying, "on this day, 50 years ago, .... people lost their lives". It should be a day when people remember the actual people, not the number, that had their lives cut short. It should be remembered that everyday people, such as you and I, lost their lives because of somebody else's anger and envy. The thousands of innocent mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children and so forth died. Just think, normal, everyday loved ones. One may think this was a massacre and it never should have happened, but they should then also think about the other countries where things like this are happening every day. Did most of is feel sorry for them or even think about them before Septmeber 12th? Or is it just when something happens ot the United States, that we wake up and think about it? September 11th, should also be a wake up call to the United States and other countries that war is not the answer to things. Thousands of people have been victims of ways, and have had their lives cut short and their families torn apart. Although it is impossible to stamp out terrorism and war, I hope governments and leaders will realize and try to talk to others and settle things peacefully, rather thatn just saying, "Oh that made me mad. Let's go drop a bomb". Does that seem like the right answer? I do not think so. The things that should be remembered about September 11th are the ordinary everyday brothers, and sisters who had their lives cut short because of the anger and envy of another person or group of people targeted at the United States of America.
September 11th, 2001, was a day of sorrow, fear, and confusion. The way we, as a nation and as people, are coping with those emotions, and obstacles, are helpin to shape who we are. Whether we it be together or apart, we as people of a nation must realize that what happened, wa not justtargeted at one person, group of people, or government, but at the United States of Ameica. It was targeted at us as a whole, not as individuals. As the most powerful nation in the world, I think we tend to get a bit conceited or overconfident. Sometimes I feel our nation thinks only of itself, rather than all countries of the world. Sometimes I wonder if the United States thinks about what effect its actions will have on other countries of the world, or if it just acts without considering anyone else. But now we know, as we should have known before, anything can happen. The United States can bhe the target of teeorism adnits people can be hurt. The way in which we respond to that shapes who we are, as people and as a nation. We must come together and act as one. We must remember our mistakes from the past, so we will not repeat them in the future. We must remember September 11th, 2001 as a lesson to shape how the future United States of America will handle things and make decisions.
We must remember.
The way that I witnessed September 11th may seem a bit coincidental to some people. When the first plane hit the first building of the World Trade Center, at 8:48 a.m., I, along with 29 of my classmates, were walking doen the stairs from math class to a bus-evacuation safety drill. As we got on the bus, everybody was really wild adn goofing off because we did not have any idea of what had happened. While the bus driver, Ken was trying to get us to quiet down, we continued not to listen to him, because we thought, "Oh this is no big deal, we have done this a million times." I can still remember the words Ken spoke when telling us of the horrible thing that had just occured. He said, "Boys and girls, if you think bus safety is an issue to be taken lightly, just listen. A few minutes ago, aplane that left from Boston, heading toward the West Coast, changed direction and crashed into the World Trade Center Building at full speed." I was sitting next to my friends Caitlin and Aj when he told us. We turned to each othe in disbelief. We thought Ken was just making up this cruel story to make us quiet down and listen to him. When we got off the bus and back into our school, we knew something was seriously wrong. Most of out teachers were crying and the students around us were all confused and scared. We went back up to our math class adn our teacher, Mrs.Tanona, turned on the television to the news. While watching the news, I realized that the awful fact had suddenly become my reality. By the time we had gotten back up to the school, the second pland had already hit the second World Trade Center building at 9:03 a.m. We heard the news about a third plane hitting the Pentagon, at 9:43 a.m., witnessed the collapse of the south World Trade Center tower at 10:05 a.m., a fourth plane crashing in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, and witnessed the collapse of the north tower at 10:28 a.m. The rest of the school day, needless to say, we did not do any schoolwork. Our teachers were very helpful and conforted us. They answered any question we had and told us that everything was going to be okay. Our day at Marlborough Middle School was one filled with sorrow, stories about New York City, and confusion.
After school, I had soccer practice. Soccer praactice was similar to my day at school: questions, answers, and comfort. When I got home, my mother, stepfather, brother, and I had discussions about the tragic day. They had answers and facts I had not heard before. That night, at home, we received countless phone calls from family and friends to make sure we were okay. My father and stepmother live in Oregon, my stepfather's family lives in Canada, and the reast of my family is spread out across the United States. My stepfather works in New York City at the Cornell Medical School. He comes home on weekends and sometimes for a week at a time. I am so grateful every single day my stepfather was in Marlborough that Tuesday instead of in New York City.
My life has changed a great deal because of September 11th, not just as a person, but as part of a nation, and asd a friend. My values have also changed. During the last school year, there were many events I learned lessons from. School, friends, parents, teachers and even sports have taught me many valuable things. September 11th, 2001, was by fat the most life-changing event last year for me. On September 11th, many people thought it was going to be a normal day. It turned into a living nightmare. People young and old, black and white, perished out of hatred and jealousey. None of those people deserved to die, but they did becaose of the envy someone else felt for the United States of America. Because of the great loss an September 11th, I not only feel sorrow, but I also learned some very important lessons for life.
The first lesson, or virtue that I have taken to heard and soul is to be grateful for what you have. Although the people who did this terrible deed devastated the UNited States, they also taught us to be grateful. One may assume the people responsible wanted to give us a little bit of what they go through every day of their lives. As citizens of the most powerful country in the world, we do not realize the harships and tragedies other people go through every day. Our concerns are more centered upon whether or not our outfits match or "I need some more CDs because I love this one song on this one CD". Our concerns do not even touch the subject, "Am I going to get to eat tomorrow or will I have to wait another week?" We do not need to question whether we are going tohave enough food or water to survive the rest of the week or if we have enough clothers on our bodies to survive the winter. In many nations world wide, people are starving, thirsty and cold with no clothers or electricity to warm them. These basic necessities are part of most of our daily lives. Although we may take them for granted, there might come a day when we do not have those things. So, as a lesson to have for life, be grateful for what you have and never take anything for granted.
My second lesson is never miss a chance to say, "I love you", for there will come a time whe ntomorrow never comes. Many of tge people who died, probably did not ge to say "good morning" or "goodbye" to their loved ones. They probably thought, "Oh, I do not want to wake them up, I will se them later". Or, their loved ones may have been angry and did not say "goodbye" or "I love you". Just think, has there ever been a time when you were mad at your parents, friends or children and you never said "I love you" and "goodbye" to them? Then, the next thing you know, your loved one is gone and you did not take that little moment to let go of your anger just enough to say "I love you". I think a lot of people take their families for grated and are even sometimes wanting to get away from them as soon as possible. But then when you think about all of the people in other countries who have no parents because we bombed their country of went to way with them, I wonder how anyone can take their families for granted. I think to myself how lucky I am to have two parents and two stepparents and a family who loves me and will support me in anything I do. If you have ever thought you were unlucky to have parents or thought they were overprotective, you should just think about how much they love you and how luucky you are to have parents who care about you. The second lesson I learned was no matter how angry you are, opr even if you are not angry, just take the time to say, "I love you".
The third, and maybe most important lesson, I learned from September 11th, is respect, honor and bravery for yourself, others, the environment and your country. All of the people who dies should go to their graves with honor and respect. Some people perished our of hatred, while others perished from trying to help save the life of someone else and for that I honor them. I wish that in this world there would be more people who would act with the same courage and bravery that the rescuers and heroes displayed. They died trying to save the lives of others, while many other people did just turn and run in horror. The heroes also dies to try and help our great nation. This showed they had respect for others and their country. Those people are heroes acted with respect and bravery and for that I honor and respect them. So, the third lesson I take to heart is respect, honor and bravery for yourself, others, the environment and your country.
Although many people perished and were hurt, the people all around he should should have learned something from it. People, families and our nation were torn apart because ot someone else's hatred and envy. For the people that stood a little above the others to try and help, thatnk you, I owe you freatly for the lessons and virtues you taught to me and to the rest of the world.
September 11th wa a bhit of a wake-up call to people of the United States. It showerd them the world is not just made up of people that have everything they need, like most of the people in the United States have. Because of September 11th, I have been thinking about these kinds of things a lot. If you believe for one minute you will always have everything that you need, I believe you should seriously reconsider. Just because you have it now, does not mean you are always going to have it. Your life can change in the blink of an eye. You can have everything on moment, and nothing the next. All of the people who were affected by September 11th had their whole lives changed in a split second. They lost loved ones, money and some even lost their spirit to live. The people around me have also changed because of September 11th. September 11th opened the eyes of everyhbody whether they realize it or not. I can defenitely see a change in the way a lot of people live their lives and how they view things. Because of September 11th, 2001, I feel that my life, personality and values have chnged drastically.
There are a lot of things that should be remembered about the morning of September 11th, 2001. I do not feel the sorrow, such as the number of people who dies, should be dwelled upon the most. It should defenitely be remembered, but I do not think 50 or so years from now people should be saying, "on this day, 50 years ago, .... people lost their lives". It should be a day when people remember the actual people, not the number, that had their lives cut short. It should be remembered that everyday people, such as you and I, lost their lives because of somebody else's anger and envy. The thousands of innocent mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, children and so forth died. Just think, normal, everyday loved ones. One may think this was a massacre and it never should have happened, but they should then also think about the other countries where things like this are happening every day. Did most of is feel sorry for them or even think about them before Septmeber 12th? Or is it just when something happens ot the United States, that we wake up and think about it? September 11th, should also be a wake up call to the United States and other countries that war is not the answer to things. Thousands of people have been victims of ways, and have had their lives cut short and their families torn apart. Although it is impossible to stamp out terrorism and war, I hope governments and leaders will realize and try to talk to others and settle things peacefully, rather thatn just saying, "Oh that made me mad. Let's go drop a bomb". Does that seem like the right answer? I do not think so. The things that should be remembered about September 11th are the ordinary everyday brothers, and sisters who had their lives cut short because of the anger and envy of another person or group of people targeted at the United States of America.
September 11th, 2001, was a day of sorrow, fear, and confusion. The way we, as a nation and as people, are coping with those emotions, and obstacles, are helpin to shape who we are. Whether we it be together or apart, we as people of a nation must realize that what happened, wa not justtargeted at one person, group of people, or government, but at the United States of Ameica. It was targeted at us as a whole, not as individuals. As the most powerful nation in the world, I think we tend to get a bit conceited or overconfident. Sometimes I feel our nation thinks only of itself, rather than all countries of the world. Sometimes I wonder if the United States thinks about what effect its actions will have on other countries of the world, or if it just acts without considering anyone else. But now we know, as we should have known before, anything can happen. The United States can bhe the target of teeorism adnits people can be hurt. The way in which we respond to that shapes who we are, as people and as a nation. We must come together and act as one. We must remember our mistakes from the past, so we will not repeat them in the future. We must remember September 11th, 2001 as a lesson to shape how the future United States of America will handle things and make decisions.
We must remember.
Collection
Citation
“story8479.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 27, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/11108.