story9382.xml
Title
story9382.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-07-22
911DA Story: Story
September 11,was the first day of my sophomore year of college at Furman University. I had a 9,10 and 11 o'clock class. I left for my 9 at about 8:45, and went to class. Class ran as schuduled, no one had heard anything so everything was normal. I couldn't even fathom how radically my world view would be changed in just a short hour. I went to my 10 o'clock class, the class sits down at attention and waits for the professor. The professor was late, something that professors are never supposed to do the first day. Immediatly it was evident that he was upset and had been crying, this was an upper level psych class, so we all begin to theorize about what had caused his distress.
The professor began to speak, his voice broke, and he started to cry. He told us that New York had been attacked. He didn't know anything more than that, but he told us to go home and call our families, and to watch television. Most of us at this point in time thought this was great, we just got out of class in under 10 minutes. No one had any idea what we were going to be faced with as soon as we turned on the television.
Instead of heading back to the dorms, I went to the bookstore to pick up an aditional book. When I walked into the bookstore, I was confronted with the first image of the attack on New York. I had never realized that there were televisions in the bookstore, but now they were the main focus. When I saw the television footage of the plane hitting the World Trade Center, chills ran up and down my back. Some of the students were crying, some were dumbfounded and for the first time in my life I was scared to be an Amercian.
The cafeateria was a buzz with information, mostly false but still passed on excitily from friend to friend. "The National Mall is on fire!", "They hit Regan Naional". No one knew anything, the cafeteria workers were huddled around a small television that had been rolled in, and that area had been turned into a congragation place for people seeking solice.
It was amzing to watch a college campus, that is refered to in jest as "the Bubble", to be so profoundly affected by events that were so far away.
From that day on the world that I live in and the school that I attend have never been the same.
The professor began to speak, his voice broke, and he started to cry. He told us that New York had been attacked. He didn't know anything more than that, but he told us to go home and call our families, and to watch television. Most of us at this point in time thought this was great, we just got out of class in under 10 minutes. No one had any idea what we were going to be faced with as soon as we turned on the television.
Instead of heading back to the dorms, I went to the bookstore to pick up an aditional book. When I walked into the bookstore, I was confronted with the first image of the attack on New York. I had never realized that there were televisions in the bookstore, but now they were the main focus. When I saw the television footage of the plane hitting the World Trade Center, chills ran up and down my back. Some of the students were crying, some were dumbfounded and for the first time in my life I was scared to be an Amercian.
The cafeateria was a buzz with information, mostly false but still passed on excitily from friend to friend. "The National Mall is on fire!", "They hit Regan Naional". No one knew anything, the cafeteria workers were huddled around a small television that had been rolled in, and that area had been turned into a congragation place for people seeking solice.
It was amzing to watch a college campus, that is refered to in jest as "the Bubble", to be so profoundly affected by events that were so far away.
From that day on the world that I live in and the school that I attend have never been the same.
Collection
Citation
“story9382.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 31, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/16703.