remembering 9-11

travelin' oma assignment number eleven

i'll never forget where i was on 9-11-2001. i was about a week into my freshman year of college and was running a little behind on my way to my tuesday morning 8:00am class. i wasn't late, but i barely scooted into the room as the bell was ringing and remember being surprised at how much talking was still going on among my classmates. my professor quickly quieted everyone down and made an announcement that a plane had just crashed into one of the wtc towers in nyc and they were waiting for more details. after a few more minutes of discussion on the news, we tried to press on with class as usual.

i don't remember a lot of details from the day. i don't remember specific video clips or details about the timing of events, but i do remember the general feeling on campus. every t.v. on campus was turned on and everywhere you looked, the news was playing. you couldn't avoid it. by the end of the day, i remember feeling (with a little guilt) like i was going to be sick if i saw any more and wishing that we could just turn all of the t.v.s off and pretend like it had never happened. i wanted the noise to go away.

i remember people walking around with stunned looks on their faces, as if they had just been punched in the stomach. BYU has a weekly devotional every tuesday, where speakers come to deliver addresses on various topics. that tuesday, the scheduled speaker was canceled, but we still had a campus devotional where president bateman, our university president, addressed us. he spoke comfort to a solemn student body and we reverently mourned the loss of those involved in the events of the day.

i remember talking to my mom and having her say that i would never forget where i was that day. she recalled certain events in her life that were similar such as the moon landing and jfk's assassination. i knew that she was right and i knew that i would not only remember the events of the day for the rest of my life, but i would be affected by those events for the rest of my life.