story6626.xml

story6626.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

On the day of September 11, 2001, I was going to school like I did evey normall day. I was a senior in high school, and spent most of my time focused on the things going on in my life, not really caring about what was going on in t he world outside of my own. My whole life I had never really had much of a sense of patriotism, so it was never that important to me to be worried about the state of my country. But I'll never forget walking into my second period class, curious as to why everyone was trying to find a decent channel on the tv. Someone finally found a news station, and that's when I saw the pictures of the world trade center, with smoke billowing out of it. I just stood there, trying to piece together what had happened. I had visited New York City the previous spring, and seeing the picutures on the screen didn't seem real to me. I finally found myself sitting in my seat, and we spent the whole class period watching the news coverage of what had happened. When I discovered that a plane had hit the world trade center, I thought that maybe it had just crashed accidentally. But then we were watching the moment the 2nd plane appeared and the reporter seemd just as shocked as we were, announcing that a 2nd plane had hit. My eyes never strayed from the screen, and neither did anyone else's in my class. I remember seeing the first tower fall, and I felt totally helpless. My country was being attacked, and all I could do was sit in school and watch it happen right before my eyes. It was frightening, and for the first time I was worried about the well-being of the United States. After all those events, and all the sadness I saw not only on TV but in my own city, that was when I realized just what a blessing freedom is, and I learned to appreciate the country where I can have such freedom. God bless all the vicitms and their families and friends, and God bless the U.S.A.