story11231.xml

story11231.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-12-14

On September 11, 2001, I was at my high school. I remember it being a bad day to start off-I had come in late because I wasn't feeling well, but still decided to go to school nonetheless. I walked straight into my Spanish class where my teacher greeted me with a smile, and later on while the rest of the class was working she came over and gave me a hug-I guess she could tell that I wasn't feeling well. Maybe this wouldn't be such a bad day after all. Then I got up to my Math class and heard some of the kids talking about planes crashing into buildings. They way they were talking about it made me think it was a joke. They were even laughing. Then my principle came over the intercom and made the announcement: two planes have hit the World Trade Center, another the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania. I just sat there; the whole room went silent. I was immediately outraged at those boys in my class who had been laughing, but when I looked back at them and saw their ashen faces, I knew that they didn't think it was real either. I was suddenly filled with an intolerable hatred. I couldn't believe that someone could have such disregard for human life. What would motivate these people to murder so many people; leave so many children without parents, leave husbands and wives spouseless, and leave parents childless. I had never imagined such cruelty in my life, and now that I was face-to-face with it, I was overcome with extreme hatred. Then when I went home I talked with my family, and we watched the evening news. To see so many people who have endured so much tragedy rise above and dismiss their hate of these people and declare their love of their country and those around them astounded me. I was overcome with a sense of faith in the American people, and I knew that no matter what these people did, we would overcome.