story1443.xml
Title
story1443.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-24
911DA Story: Story
My one and only journal entry that I have written:
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 | 6:37 p.m.
When I woke up around 6:40, I went into my regular routine. I walked drowsily to the bathroom and took a shower. I got out, wrapped up in a towel, and searched the usual places to find clean clothes to wear. I chose a pair of shorts with a [San Francisco] 49er T-Shirt. Then I trudged over to the kitchen and finished off my pancakes from Sunday. I read the paper while I ate. After that I took my pills and brushed my teeth. Now that I was ready for school, I focused on other things that needed to be done. I had Mom get out the [high school's class schedule] booklet with all of the classes inside. I needed to find a one semester class to sign up for during 4th period in the second semester. I sat down with a notepad and wrote down classes that sounded appealing.
[My brother], who was in his room with the door open, yelled, ?[Hey], turn on the news!? Though it sounded like something bad had happened, I didn?t know what it was about. So I ignored him. Then he came flying out of his room, saying, ?Turn on the news!? I realized he was headed toward the TV and half-walked, half-ran towards the TV. [My brother] had the channel on MSNBC. The World Trade Center had collapsed.
?Oh, dang,? I said, taken aback by the video clips of the tower collapsing. I ran into Mom and Dad?s bedroom to find Mom. [My brother] was right behind me. We found her sitting on the floor by her bed, looking through papers. We told her the news, and the shock was evident upon her face. We all went back into the family room to find out more.
The details flowed in slowly. I heard about two planes crashing in. I heard about the Pentagon being struck. But the whole situation was so bizarre that it was still hard to fathom the devastation that had just occurred. When it was almost time to go to school, we had just found out that 50,000 people worked at the World Trade Center. I was flabbergasted. Incredible, I thought. [I figured at least 40,000 were still in the building when it collapsed. I didn't realize that there was a long enough span of time between the hit and the collapse for most to get out.] But we had to get our stuff for school, so everyone grabbed her stuff and started to leave. Mom was, of course, a bit rushed, and [my sister] threw a fit while Mom was getting her ready for school. [My sister] was screaming, but I tried to ignore her and got into the car. On the way to school she still threw a fit, but we were soon at our ?drop-off point,? and my brother and I got out for school. I put my books in the Sunday School room [across the street from the high school] and headed to Geometry class with Mr. P.
Everyone was already talking about the tragedy in class. Then PNN, the school?s own news team, came on with the announcements for the day. After PNN the discussion continued, as Mr. P looked on the Internet to try to find more information. I told everyone that I thought Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks, since he had recently claimed that he would soon attack the United States. Mr. P found a report that said that a Palestinian group had claimed responsibility for the attack, but later he found another report denying that statement. A kid in class made some stupid joke about the attack, but Mr. P quickly put an end to that by getting angry at the kid for trying to make a joke about a tragedy.
Mr. P went on with regular math class, though, and we reviewed for a chapter test tomorrow.
My classes went on throughout the day, with everyone soliciting the opinions of their friends. Some of the teachers kept radios on to keep updated. Other teachers cancelled all plans for the day, choosing instead to let the class watch the news channels report on the situation. Such a thing happened in my 6th period class, Tech Core I.
All afterschool activities were cancelled, and students were told both by teachers and over the PA system to go straight home after school--- don?t hang around.
When I got home I sat down with [my mom and brother], watching the latest reports. In Tech Core, I had seen reports that the World Trade Center Building 7 was on fire and was likely to collapse. At home, I found out that indeed Building 7 did collapse. The video clip of the collapse was incredibly devastating.
It had gotten to the point where I could no longer watch the buildings collapse. It was too sad. Palestinians, meanwhile, are celebrating in the streets of their country, and Osama Bin Laden is hiding out somewhere.
I watched reports until about 4:30, when I left to work on homework. Even though a national emergency had erupted, I still had homework due tomorrow. I stopped briefly to watch President Bush address the nation. I also ate dinner, and then wrote this letter.
The sadness that I feel today cannot be describe. America has been devastated. Today is a day that will never be forgotten.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 | 6:37 p.m.
When I woke up around 6:40, I went into my regular routine. I walked drowsily to the bathroom and took a shower. I got out, wrapped up in a towel, and searched the usual places to find clean clothes to wear. I chose a pair of shorts with a [San Francisco] 49er T-Shirt. Then I trudged over to the kitchen and finished off my pancakes from Sunday. I read the paper while I ate. After that I took my pills and brushed my teeth. Now that I was ready for school, I focused on other things that needed to be done. I had Mom get out the [high school's class schedule] booklet with all of the classes inside. I needed to find a one semester class to sign up for during 4th period in the second semester. I sat down with a notepad and wrote down classes that sounded appealing.
[My brother], who was in his room with the door open, yelled, ?[Hey], turn on the news!? Though it sounded like something bad had happened, I didn?t know what it was about. So I ignored him. Then he came flying out of his room, saying, ?Turn on the news!? I realized he was headed toward the TV and half-walked, half-ran towards the TV. [My brother] had the channel on MSNBC. The World Trade Center had collapsed.
?Oh, dang,? I said, taken aback by the video clips of the tower collapsing. I ran into Mom and Dad?s bedroom to find Mom. [My brother] was right behind me. We found her sitting on the floor by her bed, looking through papers. We told her the news, and the shock was evident upon her face. We all went back into the family room to find out more.
The details flowed in slowly. I heard about two planes crashing in. I heard about the Pentagon being struck. But the whole situation was so bizarre that it was still hard to fathom the devastation that had just occurred. When it was almost time to go to school, we had just found out that 50,000 people worked at the World Trade Center. I was flabbergasted. Incredible, I thought. [I figured at least 40,000 were still in the building when it collapsed. I didn't realize that there was a long enough span of time between the hit and the collapse for most to get out.] But we had to get our stuff for school, so everyone grabbed her stuff and started to leave. Mom was, of course, a bit rushed, and [my sister] threw a fit while Mom was getting her ready for school. [My sister] was screaming, but I tried to ignore her and got into the car. On the way to school she still threw a fit, but we were soon at our ?drop-off point,? and my brother and I got out for school. I put my books in the Sunday School room [across the street from the high school] and headed to Geometry class with Mr. P.
Everyone was already talking about the tragedy in class. Then PNN, the school?s own news team, came on with the announcements for the day. After PNN the discussion continued, as Mr. P looked on the Internet to try to find more information. I told everyone that I thought Osama Bin Laden was behind the attacks, since he had recently claimed that he would soon attack the United States. Mr. P found a report that said that a Palestinian group had claimed responsibility for the attack, but later he found another report denying that statement. A kid in class made some stupid joke about the attack, but Mr. P quickly put an end to that by getting angry at the kid for trying to make a joke about a tragedy.
Mr. P went on with regular math class, though, and we reviewed for a chapter test tomorrow.
My classes went on throughout the day, with everyone soliciting the opinions of their friends. Some of the teachers kept radios on to keep updated. Other teachers cancelled all plans for the day, choosing instead to let the class watch the news channels report on the situation. Such a thing happened in my 6th period class, Tech Core I.
All afterschool activities were cancelled, and students were told both by teachers and over the PA system to go straight home after school--- don?t hang around.
When I got home I sat down with [my mom and brother], watching the latest reports. In Tech Core, I had seen reports that the World Trade Center Building 7 was on fire and was likely to collapse. At home, I found out that indeed Building 7 did collapse. The video clip of the collapse was incredibly devastating.
It had gotten to the point where I could no longer watch the buildings collapse. It was too sad. Palestinians, meanwhile, are celebrating in the streets of their country, and Osama Bin Laden is hiding out somewhere.
I watched reports until about 4:30, when I left to work on homework. Even though a national emergency had erupted, I still had homework due tomorrow. I stopped briefly to watch President Bush address the nation. I also ate dinner, and then wrote this letter.
The sadness that I feel today cannot be describe. America has been devastated. Today is a day that will never be forgotten.
Collection
Citation
“story1443.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed May 19, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/16479.