story2078.xml

story2078.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-10

It started out like any other day, but when I was on my way to third period (9:20am), I heard a teacher in the hall telling another about a hijacking. It caught my attention, but I figured it was nothing that would effect "my world." For some reason I couldn't shake the thought, though. I mentioned it to my text teacher, but he seemed quite unaware and uninterested. At the end of that class (10:00am), the principle came over the PA to inform us of the crash at the World Trade Center. As my next class started filling in the room, I found a TV and turned it on. I nearly fell to the floor with shock and horror! Tears were uncontrolable! I watched as the buildings fell for the next 2 hours, and after that I watched as they replayed the prior falls over and over. I couldn't stop watching. I was glued to the television, the radio, anything I could find that would tell me what was going on.
I didn't realize until that night that the tragedy was a lot closer than I thought. It turns out that my uncle had reservations at the World Trade Center Hotel, and that he was sitting on a place waiting to take off for New York when this all occured. My family was so fortunate that his plane never made it off the ground! Who knows what might have happened?!
September 11th became a day of inspiration for me. Because of that tragic day, I have decided to set aside my dream of becoming an actress and join the U.S. Army when I graduate college. I hope to eventually go into the CIA, as well. I want to fight the terrorists, face-to-face (or as close as they'll let a female get)! My patriotism has become one of the strongest traits about me, and I want to use that to protect our freedom!