lc_story273.xml

lc_story273.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-01-22

That day started out like any other day. I barely got to school on time and was already about to fall asleep halfway through my first class when another student came in. Nobody paid much attention when she started talking to the teacher, but when the TV came on and everyone started to realize what was happening, we paid very close attention. At first I didn't believe what was happening. I knew it was real, but the only thing I thought was that this can't be real. The whole class sat there silent, just glued to the screen. We listened to everything being said. We'd switch channels back and forth just in case we might miss something, but it was all the same. Everything was the same, what was happening was real. That was the craziest realization, that what I was watching was happening to real people. The rest of the day didn't matter; every class was watching what was happening. I'll always remeber what one teacher said to my class. He said "You'll remember this day for the rest of your life, you will know what you were doing, who was with you and what was said". He was right.

There are actually two memories that are the strongest of that day. The first is when I realized that what was happening was real. The second is seeing people jump out of the towers on live television and knowing there was nothing that could have saved their lives.

I think it has made us a more cautious nation. I believe it helped us realize weak points in our defense, but as a nation i don't believe it affected our country the way I believe the terrorist wanted it. It did hurt but it by no means "broke us". We'll remeber the people who died that day and be saddened because of the enormous loss of each of their lives and we'll remeber the terrorist with anger at what they had done, but I don't believe it had the intended affect. With me personally, I'm still trying to figure that out.