Today, as you know, is the 5 year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Folks around the internet are sharing their stories of where they were that day, so I thought I'd share mine. Find out more from rocksinmydryer.typepad.com. That's where I got the note about it all...
So here's my story:
I was a senior at Texas A&M University during that fall semester in 2001. I woke up that Tuesday in time to bike to campus for my 8AM class. It was Anthropology (or something like that), and we were watching a documentary about a tribe in the Amazon.
Once class was over, I headed to the business school for my next class, on the other side of campus. I made it over there with time to spare, so I stopped by the computer lab to check my email before class started. The lab was packed, but I managed to find an open computer next to a guy from Puerto Rico.
I logged on and tried to get to my email, but the computer was really slow. After waiting for a bit for the page to load, I gave up and then tried to get to CNNs page. That gave me errors. I glanced at the computer screen next to me, and the Puerto Rican guy pointed at the screen and just said "fire." I couldn't tell what he was pointing at, but we really weren't able to communicate with each other very well. Turns out he was trying to tell me what was happening in New York. It was just before 9AM CST.
It was about time for class, so I excused myself and left the lab. I walked over to the building in which my next class was supposed to be, and found that the hallways were jammed with people, at lease more so than usual. There were TVs on in the building, and people seemed to be crowding around them. I still had no idea what was going on, but I was starting to suspect something strange was happening.
I found my friend Kristi, and she asked if I had heard. "Heard what?" I said, really having no idea what was going on. She told me that planes had flown into the Trade Center towers, and then pointed to the TV screens. All I could see was billowing smoke from the two buildings. We all just stood there, mouths hanging open in disbelief, staring up at the screen, hoping that it wasn't true.
I think at this point, the first tower had collapsed.
I don't think any of us processed it all right then.
After watching for a few more minutes, I noticed that people were slowly going to their respective classrooms, so I did the same, hoping that the prof could shed some light on the situation. She just sat there. Out of a 500 person class, there were about 100 people there. We were all dumbfounded, not really knowing if we should stay glued to the TV, try to go about normal life, panic, pray, or what. She thanked us for coming, and then said that she couldn't go on. She dismissed us and we all went back to watching the TVs in the hallway.
The second tower collapsed shortly after that.
We watched for about an hour, shocked and horrified.
My next class started and I went down the hall. My prof was a Christian, and there were about 50 people there, out of 150. We had a time of prayer. Everyone was talking about what had happened and what they thought might happen next. I thought I was going to throw up.
I stayed around for a few more minutes and watched TV. Then, I think I went home and watched for the rest of the day. My roommates and I couldn't do anything else.
What's your story?
2 comments:
It's our generations "where were you" like our parents when JFK was shot - no one will ever forget where they were. I was teaching class to my Junior's and Senior's when the Head Master came on the speaker saying please gather in the assembly hall. He then told us what happened, as a teacher you are supposed to be strong for your students but my head wouldn't stop spinning and tears welled up in my eyes. After a moment we all gathered in groups with students and began to pray. During the prayer I had to stop b/c i was about to break down - one of my students Becca took over and began praying in my place. I continued and then the other students took it upon themselves to pray as well. Like I said I'll never forget it.
Yeah, I remember snapshots from that day. I remember going into work, walking into the meeting room, joining a dazed crowd and watch the second plane hit the towers. I remember asking questions and receiving questions that had no real answers. I remember watching cnn for most of the day from my friend Corbett's house . I remember being afraid for this country and for the way of life I had gotten used to till then. I remember thinking that sooner than I would like it, this day will join the other eventful days as a memory and for most people life will not change much whereas for some it will be changed irreversibly. I remember thinking how unfair that was.
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