{"id":3019,"date":"2010-09-11T23:59:27","date_gmt":"2010-09-12T03:59:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/?p=3019"},"modified":"2011-03-26T18:11:40","modified_gmt":"2011-03-27T00:11:40","slug":"where-were-you-on-91101","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/where-were-you-on-91101\/","title":{"rendered":"Where were you on 9\/11\/01?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuesday Sept 11th, 2001
\nDay of the Terrorist Attacks on the WTC and Pentagon<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today has been an incredible day. In describing the events that happened today, one of the teachers said that \u201cthe world has changed significantly from what it used to be.\u201d There\u2019s no doubt that that\u2019s true. It\u2019s so strange, I\u2019m still having trouble computing it; it seems almost like a dream; that tomorrow we\u2019ll get up and nothing will be different.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On September 10th, 2001, I resolved to keep a daily journal for one full year (and actually followed through on it until June the next year). That journal turned into a detailed account of my personal reaction to the 9\/11 terrorist attacks, the most historic, world-changing event to happen in my lifetime.<\/p>\n

September 11th was the first day of school for my junior year in high school.<\/p>\n

I first heard the news in 2nd period, which was AP US History with Mr. Gunn. I was excited to see his class, see what the year would be like, etc. Everyone was scrambling for a test. He came in a bit late, and was visibly shaken. He told us that the test was cancelled, and then broke the news to us.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think anyone computed it right then. I know I didn\u2019t. I heard about it, and immediately my love of storms, breaking news, and perilous events kicked in. But I knew that what had happened was big – and not cool one bit.<\/p>\n

I choked down the impulse to get excited, but I did want to know more – a lot more. I asked several questions about what had happened, but there wasn\u2019t much info right then. I had no idea what the incredible magnitude of the event was; I still have trouble, it\u2019s like something from a movie or something.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Needless to say, that was the weirdest first day of school I’ve ever had. Classes went on as scheduled, except for the last period of day, which was canceled for an impromptu school-wide assembly. Everything was upside down, with teachers and students trying simultaneously to launch another school year while doing everything they could to find out what the hell was happening on the news.<\/p>\n

I didn’t get to a TV until the mid-afternoon, during my lunch break.<\/p>\n

CNN was on, and they were showing footage of the Trade Center and the second plane ripping through it. They showed the buildings on fire and the scene around the buildings. It was incredible; eerie…it was really then that I started to comprehend the sheer magnitude of what had happened.<\/p>\n

I watched footage of the Trade Center as the building collapsed – that was incredible. I watched the footage reels play over and over again. There was one of someone at the very foot of the building shooting the building as it burned, then caught it as it began to collapse, and then it started jiggling around as the guy and everyone around him scrambled as fast as they could to get out of there!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

It was surreal. In the middle school just across the street, kids burst out laughing when they watched the second plane hit the other tower–then looked around in frightened disbelief as they realized that it was real. I remember looking at the photographs from the New York Times<\/em> the next day and thinking I was reading a superhero comic, not the newspaper. It just didn’t compute.<\/p>\n

I had a ton of questions on my mind that day, and they generally went in this order:<\/p>\n

1) Was anyone I personally know hurt or killed in the attack?
\n2) Were any of the victims friends or family of people I know?
\n3) Is there going to be a war?<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to remember this day for years and years, it\u2019s incredible. The world has changed; I can feel it. It seems tonight like the stuff on the news is amazing and true, but it doesn\u2019t seem real – not in the sense that I think any of us fully understand everything that\u2019s gone on – everything about everyone who\u2019s been affected by this, including ourselves.<\/p>\n

For me, it feels exciting and horrifying at the same time, and I almost feel as if it\u2019ll be gone tomorrow, or at least people will still be reporting on it and nothing will have changed from tonight\u2019s events. Of course, that\u2019s not true.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interestingly enough, I had been watching the news on an almost daily basis for over a year, waiting for something like this to happen. \u00a0When the second Palestinian intifada began in 2000, I spent all my free time at school on the internet, checking on the latest developments in the Middle East. \u00a0When the nightly news stopped covering it, I became so disgusted I stopped watching TV news.<\/p>\n

So I already knew who Osama Bin Laden was. \u00a0I knew all about the Taliban and their egregious human rights abuses in Afghanistan. \u00a0I heard about the USS Cole only hours after it was attacked, and I was disgusted that the US government wasn’t doing more to defend us from terrorism.<\/p>\n

So when the 9\/11 attacks happened, I felt simultaneously excited and guilty. \u00a0Finally, after months and months of slow news, something BIG is happening! \u00a0But people are dying, too–thousands of people. \u00a0Is it wrong to be excited? \u00a0But I’m sad too–does that make it all right? \u00a0How should I feel about this?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not scared, I\u2019m not terrified like the terrorists want, I\u2019m not angry about all this – I\u2019m just in shock, waiting to see how it all plays out. This is BIG!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course, the mental and emotional impact of the attacks were much larger than I understood at the time. \u00a0I didn’t feel a sense of peace in my life until sometime the next week, when I watched a special LDS devotional broadcast from the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City. \u00a0Even then, the impact of the attacks continued to transform me in ways that I didn’t fully understand.<\/p>\n

Before the end of the school year, I wrote a short story that amalgamated all of the ways that the events of that year had changed my life. \u00a0It was my first creative writing project since elementary school that I’d actually finished, and I found it surprisingly cathartic. If you care to read it, you can download it here:<\/p>\n

THE DREAM DIARY<\/a> \"Creative<\/a><\/p>\n

The writing is terrible, the plot is cheesy, and it gets a little preachy towards the end, but it’s more honest and genuine than anything else I can possibly say.<\/p>\n

After the shock and horror and fear and sadness, the events of that day ultimately brought me closer to God and the people around me. \u00a0It also led to a lifelong fascination of Middle Eastern cultures alien to my own–and the desire to show that no matter our background or culture, we are all equally human.<\/p>\n

That’s the best way to defeat evil–become a better person because of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tuesday Sept 11th, 2001 Day of the Terrorist Attacks on the WTC and Pentagon Today has been an incredible day. In describing the events that happened today, one of the teachers said that \u201cthe world has changed significantly from what it used to be.\u201d There\u2019s no doubt that that\u2019s true. It\u2019s so strange, I\u2019m still… Continue reading Where were you on 9\/11\/01?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[457,458,130,456,30,145,448,37,149,599],"class_list":["post-3019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-current-events","tag-good-and-evil","tag-high-school","tag-history","tag-life-decisions","tag-new-york-city","tag-personal-growth","tag-spirituality","tag-the-middle-east","tag-thoughts-reflections","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7iXK-MH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3019"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3044,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3019\/revisions\/3044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onelowerlight.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}