story11226.xml

story11226.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-12-13

Innocent lives lost, families torn apart, all on September 11, 2001. It was definitely a historical landmark, but to me it began as just another Tuesday. I woke up 6:15 a.m. and like every other morning I sat on my bed for an ample amount of time until my exhausted body began the wake-up process. I took a shower, brushed my teeth, and got dressed, as I routinely did. I ate my breakfast and exchanged goodbyes with my family as we all headed out of the house. A sophomore at Oakton High School, at the time, I arrived at 7 a.m. to hang out with my friends before we all headed to class. Our first class was over at 9:05, we had a fifteen-minute break period, and then the second-class bell rang. I remember walking into my world history class and sitting in my seat. In fact, Nicole and I were in the same class, and ironically, our teacher began the discussion of conflicts in the world. We began discussing religious struggles, and the loud speaker came on in the classroom. It was our principal and he was informing us of what had occurred, he said, ?I have an unsettling announcement for the faculty and student body and it should be handled with serious precaution.? He continued to inform us that two planes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. Our teacher then turned the television on and m oments later, we were informed that Flight 77 had hit the West Wing of the Pentagon. Everyone in the classroom had a frantic look on their face as a silence fell upon the room. I became very apprehensive as I tried reaching my parents and every time I did, the telephone lines were busy or disconnected. I continued to watch the television in awe and it had sunk in, I knew then that what had happened wasn?t unintentional; rather it was a violent attack on our nation, to challenge the nations unity.

September 11, 2001 began as an ordinary Tuesday for me, however, by the end of the day, with thousands of lives lost, families divided, many wounded, patriotism and freedom in our country changed forever, and our country continues to stand united in the face of terrorists.