story1480.xml

story1480.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-26

I never would have imagined such an incredible, terrible, hateful event would take place just weeks into the start of my college career. At the time, things on my mind included grades, getting along with my four roomates, visiting my girlfriend at her school, and homework. On that particular morning, I was sitting in my astronomy lab at GMU. My lab partner, whose name I forget, whose face I will probably never recall, was late to class. Holding his cell phone in his hand, he told someone told him a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I thought, and asked him, if it was an accident? He didn't know. Now, usually, I would take advantage of the lab and do a tiny bit of web surfing. I don't recall now if I hit any news sites during that class on that day, but I do remember this. I left the class after my assignment was completed. Walking back to my dorm in Presidents' Park (the freshmen living area), I noticed an abnormal amount of people on their cell phones. Being in the center of northern Virginia at a school diverse and populated as Mason, cell phones are not uncommon, but everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was on theirs, in the parking lot, on the walkways, and everywhere in between. I climbed three flights of stairs to my room, and opened the door. I don't remember if the TV was already on (I think it was), or if I turned it on, but from that moment on I joined the rest of the world in watched those fateful events unfold. It wasn't on TV, but on my web browser's main page that I first heard about the collapse, then later the Pentagon. I remember trying to call my family, but to no avail...with a campus of thousands, my measly call would not get through. I did manage to reach my girlfriend though, and I remember telling her we would be ok. Soon, parents began to arrive to some of their children, some calls did make it through, and the rest of that day, as they say, is history.