lc_story236.xml

lc_story236.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-01-10

As a Biology teacher at Leander High School in Leander, Texas, I was in my classroom preparing my lecture for that day. I turned on the television to listen to the early news when the first thing I saw was the first tower bellowing smoke and shortly thereafter seeing a jet slam into the second tower.
I sat in my chair in disbelief; maybe instead of watching the news I was watching a movie. But slowly it dawned on me... this is real!
At the appointed time students began to arrive. As they entered they asked if we were watching a video. I motioned for them to sit down. Once the class started, I advised them of what was happening. At first, they thought I was joking. I was bombarded with questions such as "Are we going to war?" or "Are they going to drop bombs on us?". Several of my students started to cry. I assured my students that we were safe. I also told them that if we went to war against whoever did this, our military would take care of it.
That day I did not teach Biology. We watched what was happening and I answered questions from my students.

My strongest memory of that day is watching some of my students cry. They were frightened!

The events of September 11 caused our country to further unify. Many became patriotic and those of us who were became even more.