story187.xml

story187.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-03-07

I remember September 11th 2001 like it was yesterday, it was a Tuesday morning, and I had a class at 10:30am. Like any other college student, I liked to sleep as late as I could, then hurry to campus at the last possible moment so that I wouldn?t be late. So I was a little upset when the loud ring from the telephone interrupted my REM cycles. I somehow made it to the phone, still wishing I were back in bed. The man on the phone asked for my roommate, it was his dad. I told him he was asleep, but that I guess I could wake him up, still a little confused as to why my roommate?s dad needed to talk to him at 9 in the morning. The man on the other end seemed distraught; I asked him what was the matter. He asked me if I knew that one of the World Trade Towers had just been bombed. Still, in partially a sleepy mood, this did not register with me. I knocked on my roommate?s door and after waking him up, he impatiently said to come into his room and I told him the news and he took the phone and spoke with his dad. I then turned on the TV; sure enough I was bombarded with news on every channel highlighting this morning?s events. I stayed glued to the TV as I watched what replays they had of the day unfold in front of my eyes. As I was watching, I saw the plane crash into the second tower. It was so scary. I had no idea who was behind this or what would posses someone to do this. For some strange reason, I did not think this was going to turn out to be as big of a deal that it really is. I mean the Towers had been attacked before and there was the Oklahoma City bombing, but I never expected what happened on September 11th to escalate to what it is like today. I headed off to campus to make it to Geography class, as I drove I heard fire trucks continuously in the distance. I tried to call my mom, dad, and grandparents, but my cell phone was not getting any service. Two minutes into Geography, my professor cancelled class because her husband worked in the Pentagon and she could not get in touch with him (turns out he was fine). I was so scared; here I was no less than twenty miles away from the Pentagon, and not able to get in touch with my family. I quickly found the TV?s in the Johnson Center and sat for hours with the rest of the concerned student body as we watched the replays and latest updates on ?The Attack on America?. I was most scared because my dad was traveling that day and he was supposed to be on a business flight out of Boston that morning at 7 am, and I didn?t know where he was, if his plane had to make an emergency stop, or if he was even ok (he was fine, his plane was forced to land somewhere in Florida). I left campus and came back to my apartment where I finally got in touch with my family and I sat and watched the television for seriously the next ten hours. I was educated about this bin Laden guy, possible theories, and strange coincidences (911= 09/11). I remember September 11th 2001 like it was yesterday, and I will always remember that day for as long as I live, for it was the day that changed the way that I, and every other American and nationality live.