story2699.xml

story2699.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

It was the very end of my zero hour, chemistry, when I found out about the attacks. My teacher dismissed us and turned on the radio to listen to what was going on. She hadn't told us during the class, so my classmates and I were in the dark. As we were walking out we heard and she told us about it. I was confused at first, I couldn't comprehend someone flying a jumbo jet into something like the WTC. In the six minute passing period between classes, news spread like wildfire. When I walked into my english class, everyone was buzzing about this and that, and those who had seen the television before they left their house were telling the rest of us what they had seen. As the class started, our principle, Dr. Veach announced to the students and teachers that we would not be permitted to have the news playing on any of the television sets, and that no school in our district would. Not many teachers turned their televisions off. He also promised to keep us updated throughout the day on the happenings across the country. During my last class, German, we had a lot of down time towards the end of the period. Herr Gardner decided to defy central administration and turn the TV on. ABC just recieved some freelance journalism footage of one of the planes hitting. It was the first I had seen, and I was horrified. Then we saw the pictures of ground zero. I was totally unaware that the towers had collapsed, and i jumped at the sight. I felt awful. I heard that there was a potential of tens of thousands of people dead. It was a somber car ride home with my car pool, but we tried to make it as normal as possible. We still listened to our music loud, and rolled our windows down, but no one was really paying attention to that. My friend who was driving had a sort of blank stare in her eyes, almost like she wasn't paying attention to the road. That night I didn't do much of my homework. The news was on every channel in the house. Dinner wasn't a family experience that night. When someone described 9/11 as the Pearl Harbor of my generation, I felt scared. I was angry, and wanted to punish those responsible, but I didn't want a prolonged world war, which was what happened after Pearl Harbor. That week on Friday, The school's pep rally theme was changed to Red, White, and Blue. Several organizations around the school were making plans to send money to the various funds. I'm heavily involved in Technical Theatre at Westlake, and we hold dances as fund raisers for a trip we take every year to a different place. The first dance after 9/11 made $2,000 for the Firefighter's Fund. I feel that America has come together as a country, and as a people. The sense of patriotism is almost overwhelming. Before, everyone had a love of country, but it wasn't as prominent, wasn't as meaningful as it is now. 9/11 gave my generation something to wave the Stars and Stripes about, and it taught us to appreciate the things we have. This past year doesn't seem like it was a whole year long. Whenever anyone asks me where the best place to live is, my answer will be a resounding "The United States of America." Because it is the best place to live, and because the American mentality is what allows a group of passengers to prevent another plane from causing the damage it was intended to. It's what allows the armed forces to ship out and protect us abroad in virtually no time. It's what allows students at a high school to raise thousands of dollars in aid of their fellow Americans. The American mentality is what makes this country the leader of the world, and it is what will make this country continue to stay the leader of the world. I'm proud to be an American