Seven Years

It's crazy to think it's been seven years since September 11. I was reading this article that asked, "Where were YOU when September 11 happened?" and I got to thinking about that and how much time has passed since then.

I remember that September 11, 2001 happened on a Tuesday. I was a sophomore in college and living in my lakeshore dorm then (that was my favorite residence through all of college!) On Tuesdays, I only had one class; my French III class at 12:05. Being the typical college student, that meant I usually stayed up late on Monday nights and then slept in until around 11 or so on Tuesday mornings.

So there I was, sleeping peacefully on my futon (which, as you know, is a staple for all college dorm rooms), and my phone rings. The first thing I think is, "Who the heck is calling me so early?" (10:30 was early to me back then.) I groggily answered my phone, and it was my mom. "Did you hear that the Pentagon was attacked?" she asked. That made me sit straight up, suddenly awake. I, of course, had not heard that, being that I was asleep up until that moment.

I turned on the TV then, and I really couldn't even grasp the horror of what I was seeing. It just seemed so surreal to me, like it was a movie. And no one really knew for sure what was happening; people were mixing rumors and hearsay in with the facts, since it was so hard to get a straight story at first. I called Dan (this is when he worked during the day at WPS, and only went to school at night), and he said he had heard about it, too. I think both of us were in shock at that point; it honestly didn't seem like something that could have happened, you know?

I went to my French class then, but my professor dismissed class almost immediately. She herself was from the East Coast (Boston, maybe?) and UW has a ton of out of state students from the East Coast, so I think that hit home for all of them. I went outside after she dismissed us, and I sat on the grass of Bascom Hill, just studying. It seemed so odd to me that I was sitting there, on a gorgeous, sunny fall day, healthy and safe, with all my loved ones safe and accounted for..... and there were Americans who couldn't claim the same thing at that moment. I couldn't really grasp it; in fact, I still don't think I've fully understood what those people must have gone through. It must have been hell for the survivors, the family members, and those who were lost.