nmah1447.xml

nmah1447.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-06

As a high school teacher, I was at work when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I was sitting at my desk grading my student's summer reading assignments when a fellow teacher told me to turn on my TV because something terrible had just occurred.

We had to teach our students for the remainder of the day and were asked not to have the television on in front of the students.

It was especially hard because many, many of our students and staff members have family working at the Pentagon. We are located near several military bases outside of Washington, DC, so many of our students knew immediately that when they went home, their parent would be gone.

My life has changed in the last year. I have paid more attention to prioritizing my life--really deciding what is important, like 'finishing this last bit of work' or 'spending a few extra minutes with my family'.

We need to remember the amazing heroes we witnessed sacrificing their lives simply to help a stranger. We must remember the amazing bond so many Americans felt after the attacks--we were all just simply Americans and it did not matter what color any of us were or what religion we practiced. We must all learn of the innocent people who were killed in these attacks and try to be better people.

I proudly flew an American flag after September 11th and still have it flying. As I look at my country's flag, I am proud!