story2641.xml

story2641.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I woke up on September 11th, got dressed in my athletic because our soccer team was working out in the weight room that morning at 9 a.m. It was a Tuesday so our maid was cleaning our house, and everything was quite hectic even before the terror attacks started. I came downstairs and found my mom and my maid watching the news and the burning World Trade Center, and I remember asking "Is this a big deal?" I just thought it was some bizarre freak accident and I did not think much of it. I rode to school listening to the news with my mom, and right when I was getting out of the car, a news bulletin reported that the Pentagon was on fire. I walked into the locker room to complete getting ready for our workout, and as I sat down with some of my teammates, we all shared what we knew, but it was mostly confusion and none of us really knew what was happening. While we were in the weight room, a school administrator came over the PA system and told all teachers to turn off all the TV's and the only thing they could play was the radio. I showered and went on to second period, then to World History where my teacher Mrs. Franzen updated us, and told us that both World Trade Center towers had fallen, the Pentagon was struck by a plane, and a plane had gone down outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvaniya. When she told us that all planes had been grounded over the U.S., I remembered that my Dad was in California, and was supposed to fly back on September 11th. (He ended up driving back to Texas with his boss instead of flying). In lunch and in Journalism class, our teacher let us watch TV even though she was not supposed to. Later in the day during IPC, we were in the computer lab and our teacher gave us the day off and let us look on the internet about what was going on around the country. I came home that day and all day and night watched the news, and called family to make sure everyone was o.k. My friend Ricky's cousin, who is a stockbroker in NYC had a close call, he was supposed to have a meeting in the World Trade Center but was sick, so he couldnt go. That night I remember watching the news for a long time. So that was my September 11 story, a day we will never forget.