story2719.xml

story2719.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I'll never forget what I was doing on September 11th. It was a Tuesday and the dance team I am a part of had already begun rehearsal for the upcoming pep rally on Friday. We were learning "Love Shack" because the theme was supposed to be "70's" and I remember our 2nd lieutenant Jenniann was explaining what we were supposed to do. The music was blaring so loud when we heard our principal, Dr. Veach come over the P.A. system. We missed the first half of what he said because we didn't turn the music down in time, but our director had heard that there was some sort of tragedy and to please not turn on any t.v.'s or radios. Everybody thought that one of our classmates had gotten in a car wreck or something. . .we never thought something this huge could ever happen to us, in a "perfect" community like Westlake. We kept on rehearsing while our director was called to a staff meeting to find out what really was going on. Finally, at 9:30, we had "Circle", a time for us to reflect on how much we had accomplished in practice and compliment each other on a good rehearsal. It was then, in this large circle of 45 girls that our director told us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Centers. Immediately everyone gasped in horror, not wanting it to be true and there were comments like, "Who would do this?" and "How can someone be this sick?" Everything after that was crazy, and we all ran into the locker room to change. Instead of our usual punk rock music blaring on our favorite radio station, we listened in silence to the DJ explaining what had happened. During 3rd period, my English teacher had the t.v. going and we watched the towers fall on a staticky t.v. I remember calling my mom during this class, even though we're not allowed to use our cell phones, just to make sure she was okay. In fourth period, my History class, I picked up a packet on Mwambutsa IV of Africa as I walked in the door. My teacher was not as perky as he usually was and he also had his t.v. going, even though the school board had asked all schools to turn off all t.v.'s and radios. Throughout the day, it was all people could talk about. My friends even joked about theories of who might have done it. It never really hit us that people were suffering and losing loved ones. Finally, in seventh period, my Chemistry teacher told us an escape plan, just in case something was to happen. We were all to go down the the "G-wing" underground and we had to stay with her, no matter what because she was responsible for us. Hearing this was a total wake-up call...that what had happened over 8 hours ago was affecting all of us on the opposite side of the country. I was now afraid to go home because it would mean going home to an empty house, without anyone to help me in case something did happen (I live with my mom who works late nights). I started thinking about this book I read in the 7th grade, about a guy and his girlfriend and how they tried to escape the effects of an atomic bomb, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember a single thing they did to save themselves. I called my best friend who lives in Dallas to see how she was coping. What she told me was probably the most frightening thing I had ever heard. Her dad had just flown to New York the night before and they couldn't get a hold of him and her sister went to college near the Pentagon. I didn't know what to say or what to do to help her through. All I could say was "I'm sorry." I'm not a very spiritual person so I couldn't offer any encouraging verses or pray for her because I just didn't know how. My memory of last year stops there.
Today, one year from that horrible day, I went to my drill team's version of a Bible study (called Encouragers). We spent most of our 30 minutes talking and reflecting about what had happened and how we were coping. We talked about how some things happen for a reason, but no one could see what the God's purpose for this was. But I saw one: September 11th helped me to become a more spiritual person and it made me realize how precious life really is.