Memories from 9-11

On the Dallas Morning News website, they were asking for personal reflections about 9/11, so I decided I would incorporate it into today's blog...

On 9/11, I was in second period, Choir. Ironically, we were practicing the National Anthem for a special performance that we had in a few days. I remember our principal, Dr. Hebert, coming on the announcements... "May I have you attention please... [pauses for a moment] Today is one that will be recorded in the history books and you will remember this day for the rest of your lives.." He told us about the tragedy in New York and the Pentagon. He told us that we could go to the Counseling Center if we needed to speak with counselors about the tragedy and that he was also canceling any after school events: practices, auditions, etc. "This is a day that we all need to be with our families," he said. After that, I went to my English class, where the teacher refused to allow anyone to watch TV news coverage, which made me mad because I had not been able to get any information beyond what Dr. Hebert gave us. At lunch that day, I remember my friends and me talking about what happened. One of the things that I was brought up was gas prices. My friends and I were worried that the event would cause gas to increase in price and run short. We advised each other to fill up our cars before we went home from school. Another interesting reflection was that we all were glad that George Bush was in office instead of Al Gore. For some reason, we felt that Al Gore could not a good job in handling this tragic event. (Boy were we wrong!)

Looking back five years later, 9/11 changed the way that I look at the rest of the world. I actually try to understand other cultures and try to learn why they feel and do the things that they do. I was only 17 at the time of the tragedy and did not really have an appreciation for other cultures. Now, I try to learn as much as I can about other cultures to have an understanding about where they are coming from. Also, I have lost my sense of security. I guess before that time, I was innocent in the fact that I could be safe from anything. I felt that my mom could protect me from anything bad that could happen. When I went to bed on that Tuesday night, I no longer had that feeling. I felt that I was "on my own." Even though I knew that she would be there, I felt that she could not really protect me anymore and that the only person who could protect me was me. At the age of 17, that is not a cool feeling to have because at that age, there is still a lot of learning to be done. I do not have that feeling much anymore, but, there are sometimes when I could just have that underlying, unspoken sense of security again...