story1645.xml

story1645.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-01

I was sitting at a desk in a high school classroom when I heard about September 11th. We started the school day on September 11th just as we started the school day on September 10th. We went to first period and worked until the morning announcements came on. We were told a commerical airliner had hit the World Trade Center. We thought of it as no more of an accident and were anxious to hear the bell ring to release us to break. As we exited into the hall, several students joked about the plane crash. We had morning break and chatted as usual. We sighed as we heard the bell signaling us to go to class. We went to our seats as if we were trained animals. I sat in listening to my teacher's sophomore English lecture. We heard a knock on the door. A biology teacher stuck her head in and ask to speak to our English teacher. Our teacher re-entered our classroom, she said, "I have just been informed that the Pentagon is on fire."
She hurriedly moved to the televison and turned it on. We sat in awe as we saw the twin towers fall and the Pentagon go up in smoke. A usually chatting class fell silent. We sat back in our chairs as we tried to take in what was happening to our country. We looked to one another in astonishment. We realized that this was no joke this was a serious terror attack. We all sat in quiet wondering why. Our teacher related our events to "All Quiet on the Western Front" our recent novel we were studying. We wondered if our future would hold bomb shelters, drafts, and another world war. Most of all, we wondered what September 12 would hold in store for us.