If you wish, I would like to hear some of your memories of that day. I was teaching (my fourth week of my teaching career, in fact) an English II Honors class of 12 people. We were in a little closet of a room during 2nd period when Mr. Rockholt came on the intercom and announced that our country had been attacked. He told us that two planes had hit the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. He said that we don't have a lot of information at the time, but that we needed to remember the victims. I had first lunch, so at lunch we found out that a plane had hit the Pentagon as well. At some point someone heard that a fourth and fifth plane were inbound. (We later learned about the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.) There was just a lot of chaos and nerves. We did not have TV's at the time and I was a floating teacher so I didn't even have my own computer. My junior English class was fourth period and we went on and worked on our lesson, though no one's minds were on it, including mine. During 4th period (my planning period), I went to an empty room with my fellow teachers and watched the coverage. At that point, some stations were still showing the gruesome images of people jumping from the buildings. It was horrific to watch and there was some element of disbelief about it all. I remember waking up the next morning, how it took a minute for it to sink in that the world was a different place than it had been the previous morning. I was not a mom yet at that time, and I can imagine even now how much more terrifying the whole thing would have been if I had already had children. For some reason, nothing in this world is so scary when it is just you and your spouse. It's when little people depend on you that the fear reaches a whole new level. My daughters were born into a post-9/11 world. They don't remember what it was like to get to airports 30 minutes before your flight, to not have to take off your shoes when you go through security, and to live without the knowledge that our security is a precarious thing. September 11 changed a lot of things for the United States, but the freedom we all share remains the same and we should be forever grateful for that.
Lit Terms 2
5 years ago
2 comments:
I remember being in my third grade class and the day was going by like it always did. At the time I really didnt know anything about terroists and the Twin Towers. We got out of school and my parents were like frantic and I didn't really understand what the problem was. Then it finally dawned on me what they were talking about and for the first time in my life I saw the devestation that could be caused by one or two people. It was one of the scariest things that ever happened in my life.
Dylan Aikens
Well I remember this pretty well! At the time 9/11 happened i was still living in New York! I was in the third grade and my teacher was watching the news and freaked! All of us kids were under tables and in closets! I was crying my eyes out because I didn't understand what was going on and all the teachers were scared as well. We all had to get in touch with our parents so that they could pick us up from the school. Picking up was a disaster! Cars were flying everywhere just trying to get home so that they could be safe. My school I attended was about 25 minutes away from the city. When I got home my mom turned on the news and I saw the second plane hit into the towers. People were running everywhere just trying to get out of the way of the falling debris. Alot of people died that day that shouldn't have. I was scared because my uncle was there while it happened, but he was on the lower floor of the tower so he got out in time. After 9/11 the city was a mess and people have been scared ever since. Now airports are alot more strict about the way the check everything. Me having expierenced this was the most scariest and devistating day of my life and I dont't think that I will ever forget it!
-Leanne I. :]
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