nmah4185.xml

nmah4185.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

As I look back now, September 11, 2001 was just like any ordinary day. I woke up, got ready for school, and took the bus ride to my high school. Two periods into the day I had biology. I was doing my usual classroom work when the phone rang. My substitute teacher picked it up as we all listened to her curiously. She sounded worried , but no one knew why. Immediatly, she made a short phone call and sounded relieved to put the phone down. Still, we had not found out what was going on. It was then that my teacher turned on the TV to CNN. On the bottom of the screen scrolled a message stating that the World Trade Center had been hit by an airplane. I stared up at the TV in disbelief. I couldn't handle what I was seeing. The tower was flaming and the downtown area of New York City was in total chaos. People were jumping out of the windows, running for their lives and barely escaping the falling debris tumbling down from above. Before I could take in the shock of the hit, I saw another plane hit the second tower. Now, both towers had huge flames emerging from them. I sat there in complete denial wondering how this could possibly happen. It couldn't, i thought, it was too unreal, too much like a dream or a movie. The entire day was spent watching the TV and hearing of the attack made on the Pentagon and a plane crashing in PA. Even when I believed nothing worse could happen , the two towers collapsed , one right after the first, leaving thousands dead. I was shocked, scared, and filled with fear. I felt fear for my myslf, my family and friends , and most of all, my country. It puzzled me to think why someone would want to do such a horrible thing to America and to our people.

I think my life has changed somewhat, but nothing compared to the victim's families. I was lucky enough to not have known anyone in the towers, on the planes, or in the Pentagon. I can imagine it being extremely difficult to cope with a loved one lost in the attacks. I think that September 11th has changed my values more than anything else. I have learned to appeciate my family, friends, and mu surroundings more than ever before. Because now I realize that all of them could be taken away from me at any moment.

I think that the firefighters, policeman, and victims of 9/11 should be remembered about the attacks. These are the people that deserve the attention and remembrance of September 11th. The firefighters and policeman risked their lives to save others in need of help. Whether they survived or not, if they are dedicated to their work that much they definately deserve to be remembered and rewarded. The victims also should be remembered because they were just innocent lives taken away by hate.

Yes, i did fly an American flag after the attacks. I think that now I take a lot more pride in my country's flag. I have much more patriotism than I ever did before and I think that everyone can agree that they have changed in this way too.