nmah3903.xml

nmah3903.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

As a student at UMass Amherst, I did not have class that day until 11:15am, so I took advantage of the morning, and slept in. I woke up around 10am and went to breakfast, having no idea that anything out of the ordinary had occured that morning. I finished my breakfast, and returned to my dorm to ride the elevator up 22 floors to my room. People in the elevator mentioned that a "plane had crashed," but I had no idea that it had hit a building, nevermind the Twin Towers. To tell you the truth, I was not really familiar with the significance of the World Trade Center until they were destroyed. Anyway, when I returned to the elevator after getting my books for class, I was notified by a dormmate that two planes had hit the WTC. I was a little in shock, but since I thought I didn't know anyone who was involved, I still didn't think much of it.
I continued to class, and when I got there, our teacher mentioned that she knew people who may have been involved at both the WTC and the pentagon, and that we all needed to go watch the TV and learn more about the attacks, so our class was canceled.
When I arrived back on my floor, the top floor in a tower, it was really eerie. Every room that had a TV in it had the news on, with many people hovered around it. I called my parents to see if they had heard the news, but no one was home, so I called my dad at work. He told me that my brother(who also works at GE)'s boss was on one of the planes that had hit the WTC. I didn't know the boss, but I still was surprised that someone in my family knew a victim of the attacks.
Classes were cancelled for the rest of the day, and any University workers other than the cafeteria workers and essential personnel were sent home. I finally got a hold of my mom, and neither of us knew what to do next. She wondered if students would be sent home, and if I needed a ride, etc. I said that I hadn't heard much other than classes for that day were cancelled.
For the rest of the day, there was nothing else really to do besides watch the TV. We watched many leaders from all over the world trying to prove that they had not attacked and they were behind the U.S.A. 100%. We saw video of Middle Eastern countries with things that looked like fireballs going across the screen, although it was not definite if they were American missiles or not.
Finally, after feeling too depressed to watch the towers collapse again and again, my RA suggested that we watch a movie. We weren't in denial, but we had seen enough, and we needed to get our minds off of the terrible event. It's amazing how watching TV, and not doing anything can make you tired. I went to bed that night, not knowing if 9/12 would be like 9/11 or would it be back to normal. Fortunately, the next day was a day of healing during the aftermath of a second day that will live in infamy.

Yes, my parents hung my Grandfather's flag, given to us upon his passing, in our front window. In the past year, I have learned what it really is to be an American. I have never seen so much patriotism, and so many communities coming together, while in the back of my mind, I often wonder if it will all happen again.