9/11/01 – We Will Never Forget

I’m going to do something unusual, and post here and my other site- and not about fashion or stuff around town.

On 9/11/01, I was a college freshman at Mercer University. I was in class on the second floor of Stetson- the business and education building. It was some kind of freshman orientation class, UNV 100 I believe. We heard something was happening, how we heard I cannot remember but I do remember we urged our teacher to let us go and see. After some perusation, she let us go downstairs. The first tower of course had already been hit, they had CBS News on this large screen that took up the whole wall. When I heard Dan Rather’s voice it all became real.

The day was kind of blurry, I honestly can’t remember exactly seeing the second plane hit, I think I did. What I remember is one classmate was very upset: her father worked in one of the towers. Another classmate and fellow ADPi suggested we try to organize a campus blood drive, so we called the Red Cross: they were already booked up with people wanting to give blood and do something.

I’m pretty sure we had a candlelight vigil that night as well, someone who was there can remind me.

I remember also, that year one of our required readings was this book called Jihad vs. McWorld, that professor now seems prophetic.

I have no wise words, nothing really of importance to say, other than this is what I remember. Being a college freshman, wanting so much to make a difference in the world and to see it change right in front of you- it still impacts me today. I suppose it always will. I was a political science major, and 9/11 affected almost every class I took, aside from the classical political science classes.

It’s just heartbreaking, I think about those families, the children who were left behind, the children who must have died- I believe there was a daycare in the towers. I believe being a parent puts things in a different light as well.

I am watching this program on the History Channel at the moment- and I am hearing the story of one person for the first time. It seems there is always a new story, every time I watch. I suppose for this reason, and to pay tribute, I will watch every year. To remember. They deserve that much from us.