story7940.xml

story7940.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-18

Throughout the years of sitting in History classes learning about America?s past conflicts and wars, I never would have thought I would live through one myself. As a whole, most Americans feel as if America is a strong, superior country compared to others. As we found on September 11, 2001, although superior, we can not defend against all. Before this tragic day, there were absolutely no worries, except for coming unprepared to class with an upcoming test for which I did not study. In history class I never recall learning about terrorism or the Muslim religion.
Only two weeks into the school year terrorists attack our country. I was sitting in Mr. Cronin?s psychology class. We were experimenting with a lab that seemed too difficult to understand. He got the message from another teacher to turn on the television. There, we saw an image of the World Trade Center; a plane had struck it. Not thinking it was anything to worry about, Mr. Cronin turned off the TV. We got back to the unending lesson. Nobody thought anything of the news. In between classes, people were talking nonstop about the disaster. Everyone was terrified and frantic. When I reached my fifth period class, our teacher agreed to let us watch the TV. He insisted that it was necessary to watch and pay close attention to the horrific news about our country. By the end of the day I was exhausted. My brain was drained from feeling such heartache. I arrived home and accompanied my mother watching the television- No surprise. We talked about the issue some, then proceeded with our daily schedule. I could not concentrate on doing my homework. For once, it just was not important. I made time to reflect back on what had happened. I had never felt so angry towards another country until now- until they questioned our strength and took advantage of us. I felt sad for the families who dealt with their loved ones who died. I could easily put myself in their shoes. Knowing what it is like to lose a loved one, makes it so much harder to see or hear about others going through the same discomfort. I wanted revenge. All I could have asked for was to at least bomb their country; we needed to prove to them that we were capable of defeating them in whatever they were trying to prove-we are much stronger. The solid image of the people of Iraq dancing in the street still remains in my mind. To see people so joyous by others? pain makes me wonder how happy they are with their own lives.
Since September 11th, I have been able to let go of feeling so angry. I have forgiven the people who have done us wrong. The only way to live my own life with happiness is to not have such hateful, angry feelings towards others. We must learn to move forward. Americans are patriotic and are willing to die for their country. We are united more than ever, and will stay so by the remembrance of September 11th.