Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. My experience so far has been a day of silence. Everything seems somber. I can not believe that 10 years have gone by. This morning I woke up early to get to my soccer game in oak brook. Sitting in the car, half asleep, attempting to get my gear on, it did not cross my mind that today was September 11. Our games normally start with a whistle and we enter the field. Today we lined up, walked out and had a moment of silence. And right then and there is where it hit me. I was so mad at myself for forgetting. I was instantly overwhelmed with emotions and thoughts. I started to thing about September 11, 2001. I started to think about the film we watched in class. And finally I began to think about the holocaust. I have been learning about the holocaust my whole life. A topic of great importance is remembrance. We have to remember and continue to teach to prevent it from happening again. We have to make sure people know and understand what it was so that history my never repeat itself. I reflected on how profound of a thought the holocaust is for me. It makes me sick. I am a proud advocate of remembrance. And that is why I was so angry. September 11,2001, is another awful piece of history. If I can’t forget the holocaust I cant forget 9/11/01. We have to remember what happened that day. We have to discuss it even though it is painful. We have to grow from it. I was mad at myself for forgetting because remembering is such a contributing factor to healing. I remember my experience. I was in Mrs.Merins class, second grade. It was a normal day for a while. Then the teachers all temporarily left the rooms. When mine came back she seemed upset. She let us know that some kids would be taken out of school by their parents and that we would all find out what is going on later. I was not too worried. I got home and only my mom was there. This was typical; my dad normally came home around 7. My mom told me that there was an accident at the world trade center. Unfortunately I can’t remember much of what she said because I was so young. All I remember was that I was terrified that something happened to my Dad. At this point in time all I knew about my Dad’s job was that he was a trader. I didn’t know what that meant or where he worked. But when my Mom said world trade center I assumed that had to be where he worked. I didn’t know about the planes or anything. I was only worried about my Dad. I am 17 now and I know the story and have seen the footage. I also know that my dad worked Chicago, and the world trade center was in New York. September 11, 2001 has changed my life as well as every other Americans. I learned the importance of saying I love you. You never know what could happen and when the last time you see someone will be. I thought I lost my dad that day. From that day on I make sure to tell people I love them and always try to be on good terms. That is one of the better results of 9/11/01. There are negative ones as well. I reasonably have a fear of flying. I have a fear of going to important places in our country because I see them as a target. And unfortunately I get scared when I see Arab people in airports. I know that that is racial profiling and I wish I didn’t feel that way, but it is a consequence of 9/11/01. I will always remember that day as a day of hate, fear, and death. I will also remember it as a day of love, heroes, and community. But the most important thing is that I remember it.
Watching the documentary of September 11, 2001 in class had a large impact on me. I experienced 9/11/01 as a kid. I have talked about it numerous times. I have read books on it. I have even had a unit in class on it, junior year in American studies. None of these have impacted me as much as this film. The film had such a charm to it. It made everyone seem so wholesome and innocent. You really fell in love with tony. All you want for him is to be the hero he want to be. Its so fun and laid back at the beginning. It is captivating to watch the community within the firehouse. While I am sitting enjoying the film there is a looming sense of uneasiness. As the dates get closer and closer you only wish you could warn them all. We are sitting waiting to watch the most horrific event of terrorism the United States has ever seen. The anticipation was large. Once it finally happened I felt just a shocked as every time I have seen it before. It doesn’t seem real, watching a plane enter a building. Your mind is to full with thoughts that you don’t know what to focus on. I thought how many floors did the plane directly hit? Did the people in the building see it coming? Was there anything we could have done to prevent this? How fast could the first responders get there? What could they do once they were there? I was thinking all of these questions when watching the film. I had seen the planes fly into the buildings before. But I had never seen anything from inside the buildings. The lobby looked like a ghost town. Shattered glass was everywhere. There was no one to be found and everything was covered in dust and debris. It was a very disturbing sight. This was floor one. The explosion was in floor 80. What on earth did it look like there? And what does it look like above and below? When I am watching all of the firemen enter I am astonished by their bravery. I tried to picture myself in their situation and it was impossible. I wonder what I would have done. It is aggravating to watch because you want to help. I wanted to direct people and make sure everyone was helping in some way. You also want to scream out THERE IS ANOTHER PLANE COMING! The shock and pain on their faces when the second plane hit was upsetting to see. Observing the people in action in the building while it was occurring was something I never thought I would see. It is inspiring how people took charge and kept calm. It warms my heart to see how strangers are willing to risk their lives for others in need. I makes me want to be a better person. I had so many mixed emotions. I was feeling bad for all of the people that were trapped. I was feeling inspired by the firemen, and I was feeling troubled by the loud thumping sound. I knew that people jumped from the buildings. I had seen a picture of it in the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. But hearing was a whole new experience. It was so hauntingly loud. It was a painful reminder of what was above. It only scared me more to think about what was up there. Because whatever it was people were choosing plummeting to their deaths instead of facing it. That awful boom made my whole body cringe. I couldn’t even picture seeing it. Unfortunately I missed the second day of watching the film so I ended off there. The last thing I saw was people orchestrating going into the second building, people getting off of the elevator and that unforgettable sound of bodies hitting the pavement. I wish I had finished the documentary. But only watching half had a tremendous affect. I got a whole new appreciation for those firemen and all firemen in our country. I got a new perspective on just how bad everything was. And I got a life long lesson on the power of hate. I also feel proud to be an American. That was a worst-case scenario, and we had people lined up to try and help. We came to together as a country and remained strong. I am very glad that I had the opportunity to see this documentary because it enhanced my experience of 9/11/01. The closer I feel to this event the stronger the memories I will have. I will never forget September 11, 2001.
I read a few articles but one stood out more than the others, 9/11 Ten Years Later: Educator and Parent Guide. I was originally drawn to this article because it referenced educators. In almost every one of my classes we have discussed 9/11. So I was curious to see what this article had to say. I was wondering if it would be similar to what my teachers say or if it would be different. It also references parents. I thought about my parents. What they said to me then and what they have to say now. I wanted to know what the article suggested they say. The article had an opening paragraph that introduced the purpose of this article. The purpose was to discuss and explain 9/11. Its main objective was to educate those who were too young to remember or not born yet. This peaked my interest because I fall into the category of being too young to remember. I can recall small parts and traumatic parts but not full details of my experience. The rest of the article is questions and discussion topics. For example, “ Who claimed responsibility for the 9/11 attacks? What was the motive behind the attacks? What was the U.S. government’s response to the attacks? “ These topics are heavy but affective in learning. I realized I didn’t know the answers to some of these questions, so I looked them up. That was how I knew this article was affective. After reading I wanted more knowledge. It is good to be informed because you can have deeper discussions about your topic. I thought this article was great. It was thought provoking and well written. I think that I will bring this article to my dinner table to discuss 9/11 tonight. It will help us bond and cope as a family. I think it is very important for us to discuss it, especially on the ten-year anniversary. It is great that someone took that initial step and wrote out all of the questions we as a country have in order to help people who don’t know how to start the discussion. Start talking people! And use this article as a guide!
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