story1048.xml

story1048.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-18

I'm about to go into my senior year at Providence College in RI. A year ago, I couldn't have been more excited to spend the Fall semester of my junior year at American University in DC. As a political science major, I was thrilled at the thought of living, working, and taking classes in our nation's capital. I arrived at the end of August and I couldn't wait to experience everything the city had to offer. On September 5th, I took a nightime tour of the city with my boyfriend, and we made a list of all the things we wanted to to together during our semester there. I remember saying that I never wanted to walk by the Capitol Building and look at it as though it were a regular building. I promised myself that every time I walked by the Capitol or another monument, I would look at it with the reverence it deserved.
September 11 was the day my professor had scheduled as our "Day on Capitol Hill." The morning would begin with an optional tour of the Capitol, then we were to attend a hearing and writing a reflective essay on the Congressional process. I woke up that morning and considered not going on the tour. After all, we had to be there at 7am, and I had taken a tour of the Capitol before, and I really could have used the extra couple of hours of sleep before I had to go to a hearing. But then I felt kind of ridiculous, 2 weeks into my semester and already I'm considering missing out on things. So I got myself out of bed and down to the Capitol, where my professor and about 5 other students were waiting.
While we were waiting in line, one of the security guards was on his cell phone and was saying something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center. Not being near a TV, we all assumed it was a single-engine plane and just a horrible accident. Then, a few minutes later, he got another call on his cell phone that a second plane hit. My professor thought about terrorism and told us that she would understand if we didn't want to go into the building. I thought, "Not go in? That's silly. The Capitol is probably one of the safest places to be." My professor left a few minutes later. At 9am, our tour began, and my only thought was that after the tour, I wanted to get to a TV to find out what was going on in New York. We walked through the Rotunda and into the Statue Room, and the tour guide was going along with her tour. There was a lot of movement going on, members were being rushed out, I remember seeing Capitol Police rush out Speaker of the House Denny Hastert. A classmate of mine overheard someone say something about an explosion at the Pentagon. That's when the 6 of us started to think maybe we should leave. All of a sudden, a woman running behind us screamed, "Everybody out of the building." And I just started running. I don't remember exactly the route I took to get out. I have to credit the Capitol Police for giving us excellent directions. For the first time in my life, I thought I was going to die. I remember saying those words out loud..."I'm going to die." I was just waiting, running to try to get out, and waiting for the bomb to go off. I didn't stop running until I got out of the building and onto the Capitol lawn. At that point I turned around, and just started crying. I felt confused, betrayed, and really, really scared. I looked over to my left and saw black smoke. I didn't realize then that it was from the Pentagon. I met up with the other girls from my classes and we stayed together all day long until we could get back to our dorm. We all got each other through that day. It was impossible to get a phone line out of DC, so it took a while for me to reach my family and friends.
I felt betrayed by DC immediately afterwards. I finished out my semester, although I was scared for a long time. I would constantly look up in the sky at the planes going by and I would envision them crashing into everything from other buildings, to my dorm room window. I recevied tremendous support from my family and especially my boyfriend. Without them, I would have come home.
A few weeks after Sept 11, I remember reading that the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was probably headed for the Capitol. I felt numb, and I felt incredibly lucky. If that plane was intended for the Capitol that day, then I owe my life to the passengers on that plane.
I will live with the after effects of Septemeber 11 for the rest of my life. It has made me into the person that I am today. I still look up into the sky a lot, although I'm not as scared anymore. I watch the news constantly to be aware of any alerts. And I feel that I'm a stronger person for having been so close to everything that happened that day. I haven't yet taken a tour of the Capitol. I know that is the only way I can truly have any closure to my experience. But in all honestly, I'm just not ready to go back in there yet. I can finally look at that building without thinking of that day. And I am finally impressed by the sight of the Capitol again. And I love DC again! I am confident that someday I will take another tour of the Capitol...and I will finish the tour!