story8197.xml

story8197.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-30

Everyone remembers where they were on certain dates: the day Kennedy was shot, when Pearl Harbor was attacked, and for my generation it will be where we were on September 11th. I remember where I was like it was yesterday. I had just come from the doctor?s office because I had conjunctivitis, and I went into my 1st block with only a few minutes left. Everyone was watching the TV, entranced. I thought they were watching a movie or documentary, so I kept on asking what they were watching. I saw all the smoke and chaos about the World Trade towers, but it didn?t really register. Everyone told me to hush, so I didn?t know what was going on. The bell to 2nd block rang, so I left my class feeling confused, and asked people in the hallway what was going on. Different students told me different things, but the main story was the same: airplanes that had been hijacked by terrorists had hit the Twin Towers. It didn?t seem real, like something out of a movie. Throughout the day, we kept on watching the news and finding out more information about the terrorist attacks. Slowly, it became real, and I wondered if anything else was going to happen to the U.S., to us, to me. I watched anxiously for the next few weeks for something more to happen, but when no more terrorist attacks happened, my life pretty much went back to normal.
Thinking back over the past year, I realize my life really hasn?t changed from the September 11th attacks. At first there was sadness over what happened to all those people and being frightened that something was going to happen to me. I?m still get sad when I hear about the victims, but no one I know was personally involved in the attacks nor do I know anyone that knew someone in the World Trade Centers or Pentagon. Also since we haven?t had any more terrorist attacks, and I live in a small town that would have no significance to terrorists, I am longer afraid of being attacked. I do feel more patriotic and have a love for my country, but I don?t come face to face with the effects of September 11th everyday like all the families and friends the victims left behind do.
If there has been an impact on my life, it?s been that I appreciate more the freedoms we have, and realize how lucky I am to live in a free country instead of a place like Afghanistan where until recently girls couldn?t even go to school. Even though I don?t feel that there would be a terrorist attack near my town, it?s not impossible that there could be an attack on Kentucky. Effects from September 11th affect the whole nation, and what affects the nation has an impact on me.