story11335.xml

story11335.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2005-03-12

On the morning of September 11, I was a junior in college. My roommate and I both had class at nine, so we were up getting dressed and watching t.v. well before that. We normally watched A Different World in the mornings, but that Tuesday morning we decided to turn on the Today show instead. At about 8 am (central time), as we were watching, they cut to a scene of the World Trade Center on fire. The news anchors still didn't know what was going on. It was just a rumor that a plane had crashed into it. My roommate and I were discussing how they would put a fire out that was that high up. As we were watching, the second plane smashed into the towers. We were completely silent. I remember crouching down to keep myself stable. We were so shocked and scared. I ran to my friend's dorm room down the hall and made her get up to watch. She refused and went back to sleep. Classes continued as normal that day, although I don't think that very many people went. I went to my first class in shock. My professor hadn't heard yet, and couln't understand the severity of what had happened. During that class, I found out that the pentagon had been attacked, that a plane crashed in Pennsylvania, and, eventually, that the towers collapsed. I didn't attend any more classes that day. A friend and I went to a park to talk and pray. It was all so unbelievable. The school granted amnesty for any student who missed work or tests that semester. So many people were impacted by this tragedy. Even those of us hundreds or thousands of miles away. It was such a scary time, but I never want to forget it. It became such a time of togetherness and unity. It brought out the best in people...somehow.