story47.xml

story47.xml

born-digital

story

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2002-02-06

Of all the days I could have picked to begin my one-year
study abroad term in Europe, I managed to pick
perhaps the strangest day in my lifetime: September 11th,
2001. As an educational experience that I had been planning
for several years, I arrived with a number of uncertainties
in mind. I felt very small and weak as an individual so
far away from home, so distant from anyone that I knew.
Little did I know, the nervousness surrounding my arrival
abroad would soon fade among the awful images of the
frantic situation in New York and the devastating headlines.

Now just hours after my arrival in Switzerland, I was like
any jet-lagged person. It was a beautiful afternoon, but
I certainly didn't have the energy to do any exploring. I
had lugged my year's worth of luggage to the hostel, and I
had no desire to go any further. While I was waiting for
my room to become available, I figured I could kill some
time sitting in the lobby. Little did I know, I had chosen
what would soon become a theatre for the tradgic events.

The first five minutes or so that I saw the images on the
hostel's television, I had nothing to say. It truly was
difficult to digest what was actually happening. After all,
I was badly jet-lagged and still a bit caught up with
analyzing where I was in my own life.

The next five minutes I started to realize how closely
connected I was with these events....I flew from Dulles
airport one day earlier than the attacks. I had been at
both the Pentagon and the World Trade Center several weeks
earlier. My father had worked at the Pentagon but had
luckily retired a couple years earlier. Several of my
close neighbors still work in the Pentagon.

The next five minutes was dominated by a sense of disbelief.
How could this be? How could I have picked such a strange
day to arrive in Switzerland? Is there any way this could
just be a bad dream?

As time continued I became really sad and for a variety of
reasons. First and foremost I was sad that anyone could
ever be convinced that this type of action would advance
their cause. I continue to be haunted by very thought of
being one of the people on those planes. I was deeply
saddened by the thousands of people in the World Trade
Center that lost their lives as nothing more than
participants in a system that millions of people live
within each day.

As an American surrounded by mostly non-Americans, I felt
a genuine sense of sympathy from almost everyone in my
presense both that day and in the weeks and months
following. The only exception was actually a Canadian who
made what I felt was a truly inappropriate remark on the
day of the attacks, basically suggesting that this sort
of event was something that the US brings upon itself. Even
if that was someone's opinion, September 11th wasn't the
time to express it. I never forgave him for that.

Many conversations and months later, I'm still very saddened
by the events of the 11th. I continue to feel that the
average person fails to see the strength of the economic
connections between advanced nations. While I am a rather
strong critic of some aspects of American culture, I feel
strongly that the government and the system of markets
that it backs is made of people who do care about solving
international problems. As pointed out in a recent edition
of the Economist, poverty is being reduced at a faster rate
than at any point in history. Advanced nations have a
responsibility to work harder to solve international
problems like poverty, but the type of mindset that lies
behind terrorists should not be underestimated. The US is
right to react with a thorough military response and as
superpower, should continue to lead in this fight with
whatever means available...intelligence, military,
security measures, foreign policy, etc.

There's work to be done on all levels.