nmah6266.xml
Title
nmah6266.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2003-09-15
NMAH Story: Story
I was living in Sacramento, California attending California State University, Sacramento on September 11, 2001. The night before, I did something unusual: I turned the ringer off on my phone. When I woke up for class the next morning, I continued to do things out of the ordinary; I did not turn on the tv or my computer to catch the morning news like I did normally. I just grabbed my stuff and headed for the bus stop.
During the half hour ride to school, I did not hear any other passenger talking about what happened, so I was still clueless. When the bus arrived at campus, I saw what seemed like the whole student body, gathered at the front of the campus. I saw police directing the traffic jam. I was wondering what was going on. I started walking pass the crowd towards the middle of the campus. I decided to stop someone to ask. When I asked a girl what was going on, she replied that classes were cancelled due to what happened in New York and Washington D.C. and walked away. I thanked the girl silently for leaving me just as clueless as I was before I stopped her. I walked back to the front of the school, to the bus stop, to go back home and while standing there, that is when a more informative student advised me of what happened. She told me that the Twin Towers fell. "What do you mean they fell," I thought to myself. "What do you mean planes crashed into the buildings?" I sat on the bus in shock, trying to understand.
When I got home, I turned on my tv and saw for myself. I sat there in total disbelief. I picked up the phone to call my mother, when I heard the beep on my phone that lets me know I have a message. It was my mother, calling just a few minutes after the first plane crashed into the tower. Her voice was filled with fear as she screamed into my phone that the world was ending, that we were being attacked. I wish that I never turned the ringer off.
For the rest of the day, I sat glued in front of my tv set like many Americans. I sat there, watching, trying to understand, wanting answers. I don't remember if I went to class the next day.
During the half hour ride to school, I did not hear any other passenger talking about what happened, so I was still clueless. When the bus arrived at campus, I saw what seemed like the whole student body, gathered at the front of the campus. I saw police directing the traffic jam. I was wondering what was going on. I started walking pass the crowd towards the middle of the campus. I decided to stop someone to ask. When I asked a girl what was going on, she replied that classes were cancelled due to what happened in New York and Washington D.C. and walked away. I thanked the girl silently for leaving me just as clueless as I was before I stopped her. I walked back to the front of the school, to the bus stop, to go back home and while standing there, that is when a more informative student advised me of what happened. She told me that the Twin Towers fell. "What do you mean they fell," I thought to myself. "What do you mean planes crashed into the buildings?" I sat on the bus in shock, trying to understand.
When I got home, I turned on my tv and saw for myself. I sat there in total disbelief. I picked up the phone to call my mother, when I heard the beep on my phone that lets me know I have a message. It was my mother, calling just a few minutes after the first plane crashed into the tower. Her voice was filled with fear as she screamed into my phone that the world was ending, that we were being attacked. I wish that I never turned the ringer off.
For the rest of the day, I sat glued in front of my tv set like many Americans. I sat there, watching, trying to understand, wanting answers. I don't remember if I went to class the next day.
NMAH Story: Life Changed
NMAH Story: Remembered
NMAH Story: Flag
Citation
“nmah6266.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 24, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/44526.