story2103.xml
Title
story2103.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-10
911DA Story: Story
Why Can't We All Just Get Along?
Lauren Coleman, 15
Sophmore @ PLD high
I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was a day just like any other day, I was at school. I distinctly remember being in German class taking notes from the over-head. The lights were off except for that one darn security light that I had the pleasure of sitting under. It wasn?t to far into class that one of the German AP students ran in from across the hallway where he had been studying. Bursting into the room he yelled ? HERR PHELPS!! We?re BEING ATTACKED!? Automatically we assumed that he meant the room he was in was being taken over by another foreign language class. Boy were we wrong. We were all in a confused daze when he told us to turn on to CNN. I knew something had happened, but what? We all sat there in disbelief as we saw the second plane crash into the tower. A blanket of silence fell over the entire class. Immediately I began thinking of all my family, my dad wasn?t on a flight, my mom defiantly wasn?t, uncles aunts? To many to keep track of, I was somewhat worried when I didn?t know for sure if my family had been on a plane. As we sat paralyzed by the view everyone was scared. Could we get hit next? Or maybe our airport?!?! Me and my friends quickly thought of any important buildings near us, we were safe. Finally first hour was over, as I walked to second block the hallways weren?t filled with the ordinary chat of the latest gossip. No, it was mostly confused talk, not all students got to watch what had happened, all my friends were coming up to me to find out what in the world was going on. No one could understand why. I made my way to second block, as I passed the pay phones I thought about calling my mom, or someone outside of this place to see if everyone was ok. But I assured myself everyone was fine. Second hour was unbearable, behind me was the muted TV showing the repeated images of the planes crashing and the towers falling. I wanted to cry but knew I couldn?t. The images were so powerful it had changed my entire view on my friends, family, and my faith. Before the television was turned on in first block I never knew how important my friends and my family were, and most importantly my faith. Walking down the hall to lunch I saw people crying. I prayed for the safety of their families. Suddenly something hit me, we could go to war! Why I didn?t think that before surprised me. My brother was 18! Could we be in that bad of need of soldiers? Lord I hoped we weren?t. The day drew on, one of the longest days of my life. Wanting so badly to get home.
The next morning, September 12, I don?t really remember what had happened in school, but I can remember walking to the bus stop. Normally the skies were blue, and there weren?t many clouds. But on this day the sky was a desolate gray. I won?t ever forget the lonely feeling I had, no birds were in the sky. Normally feeling relaxed as I took each stride peacefully, I felt like I had weights on my feet, cracking the gravel with every step. This morning and several mornings after there was a feeling of distress, all around, there was no escaping. Living not very far from the airport was even freakier. Not hearing the normal roar of planes above felt weird. And when I did hear one after a week or so it was something alien to me, it worried me that there were going to be more attacks.
A year has passed and I had tried to get myself to forget. It seemed like every time my mind was free of it, I would come across an American flag and be brought back to that day in my German classroom where I sat paralyzed in disbelief. Years will pass and no one will ever forget this tragic day. Although there are many like me that wish we could just move on and not celebrate this dark day will still remember. All the years in my life I have never seen so many flags and so much patriotism about. Is it all just an act? Are people doing this because they feel bad for what had happened? I don?t think so, I believe after the 9-11 attacks our country has been brought closer together. We have formed a bond with everyone in this country, a bond so strong it will never be broken.
Lauren Coleman, 15
Sophmore @ PLD high
I can remember it like it was yesterday. It was a day just like any other day, I was at school. I distinctly remember being in German class taking notes from the over-head. The lights were off except for that one darn security light that I had the pleasure of sitting under. It wasn?t to far into class that one of the German AP students ran in from across the hallway where he had been studying. Bursting into the room he yelled ? HERR PHELPS!! We?re BEING ATTACKED!? Automatically we assumed that he meant the room he was in was being taken over by another foreign language class. Boy were we wrong. We were all in a confused daze when he told us to turn on to CNN. I knew something had happened, but what? We all sat there in disbelief as we saw the second plane crash into the tower. A blanket of silence fell over the entire class. Immediately I began thinking of all my family, my dad wasn?t on a flight, my mom defiantly wasn?t, uncles aunts? To many to keep track of, I was somewhat worried when I didn?t know for sure if my family had been on a plane. As we sat paralyzed by the view everyone was scared. Could we get hit next? Or maybe our airport?!?! Me and my friends quickly thought of any important buildings near us, we were safe. Finally first hour was over, as I walked to second block the hallways weren?t filled with the ordinary chat of the latest gossip. No, it was mostly confused talk, not all students got to watch what had happened, all my friends were coming up to me to find out what in the world was going on. No one could understand why. I made my way to second block, as I passed the pay phones I thought about calling my mom, or someone outside of this place to see if everyone was ok. But I assured myself everyone was fine. Second hour was unbearable, behind me was the muted TV showing the repeated images of the planes crashing and the towers falling. I wanted to cry but knew I couldn?t. The images were so powerful it had changed my entire view on my friends, family, and my faith. Before the television was turned on in first block I never knew how important my friends and my family were, and most importantly my faith. Walking down the hall to lunch I saw people crying. I prayed for the safety of their families. Suddenly something hit me, we could go to war! Why I didn?t think that before surprised me. My brother was 18! Could we be in that bad of need of soldiers? Lord I hoped we weren?t. The day drew on, one of the longest days of my life. Wanting so badly to get home.
The next morning, September 12, I don?t really remember what had happened in school, but I can remember walking to the bus stop. Normally the skies were blue, and there weren?t many clouds. But on this day the sky was a desolate gray. I won?t ever forget the lonely feeling I had, no birds were in the sky. Normally feeling relaxed as I took each stride peacefully, I felt like I had weights on my feet, cracking the gravel with every step. This morning and several mornings after there was a feeling of distress, all around, there was no escaping. Living not very far from the airport was even freakier. Not hearing the normal roar of planes above felt weird. And when I did hear one after a week or so it was something alien to me, it worried me that there were going to be more attacks.
A year has passed and I had tried to get myself to forget. It seemed like every time my mind was free of it, I would come across an American flag and be brought back to that day in my German classroom where I sat paralyzed in disbelief. Years will pass and no one will ever forget this tragic day. Although there are many like me that wish we could just move on and not celebrate this dark day will still remember. All the years in my life I have never seen so many flags and so much patriotism about. Is it all just an act? Are people doing this because they feel bad for what had happened? I don?t think so, I believe after the 9-11 attacks our country has been brought closer together. We have formed a bond with everyone in this country, a bond so strong it will never be broken.
Collection
Citation
“story2103.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 2, 2026, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12552.