story7764.xml

story7764.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-17

It?s been more than a year but I can still see the image of the twin towers collapsing. I was in my Spanish class the day of the attack. I just took a quiz in my Precalculus class that morning and the day was going pretty well. I then went to break and talked to my friends for a while. After the break, I went to my Spanish class. I was one of the first people there so I just sat on my desk. The final bell rang and my teacher, Mrs. Brand, wasn?t there. Five minutes later, she finally got there with this blank look on her face. I could never forget that look. She?s usually the kind of person who?s always happy. This time, however, was different. She went straight to the television and turned it on.
The first thing I saw was the sight of the World Trade Center burning. Then below it said, ?Plane crashed in WTC.? That was an unforgettable sight. I thought it was a small plane like a charter jet or something like that. The first thing that went into my mind is that it?s probably just an accident. After watching it for 15 minutes, a second plane hit the other tower. It was just purely unbelievable. Then one of the reporters on T.V. said that America is under attack. It then hit me; I thought it was Iraq attacking us. I didn?t think it was Afghanistan. After watching a few more minutes of the attack, they then said that a plane had crashed in the Pentagon. One of the girls in my class stood up and started crying. She went to my teacher and told her that her father works at the Pentagon and that she?s worried. Mrs. Brand asked her if she wanted to call home and use her cell phone. She did but nobody answered. She wouldn?t stop crying and the sight of it made me sick to my stomach, just thinking that someone?s going through that much pain. She was taken to the hall to calm her down, and a few minutes, she did calm down and she went back to her seat. I saw people walking in the halls fearing that their loved ones might be dead.
I don?t really remember how I really reacted to the attack. All I know is that I felt like I dreamed it. It was so unreal. I saw American flags everywhere during the next few days, weeks, even months. I was happy to see such support for our country but at the same time, it saddens me that we waited for something like this to happen before we realize that we live in a great country. It?s been a year now and I?m tired of seeing people show patriotism for ONE day, and then forget about it the next. It?s pathetic and upsetting at the same time. If you?re really happy to be an American, show your love and support for your country year-round, not once a year because you see other people doing it. But this attack made us realize that we?re lucky to be alive. This should never happen again.