I remember where I was this morning eight years ago like it happened last week.
In 2001, I was a freshman at Mount Union College pursuing my undergrad degree. As I did most mornings, I was watching CNN before I went to class. On Tuesdays that semester, I had a religion class at 9:10am with Dr. David Torbett followed by my freshman-orientation class with Dr. Michael Myler at 10:35am.
On Tuesday 11 September 2009, at 8:46am when I saw the breaking news on CNN that a plane struck the World Trade Center, I remember being shocked that a plane flew into the building, but I remember not being startlingly alarmed by it. After all, I knew back in 1945, a plane flew into the Empire State Building, and things turned out alright for the building.
I left my dorm room shortly after 9am because I always tried to be punctual to my classes. On that September morning, however, had I left just a minute later, at 9:03am I would have watched the second plane sail into the other tower on live national television. Instead, I dutifully turned the television off and went to class. I would return to a world changed forever.
My religion class ran from 9:10am to 10:25am. The class went on as normal with none of us in the classroom knowing what was happening in the world outside. When the class was finished, a couple students from my second class came in and announced both the Twin Towers collapsed. I didn’t believe them. Soon after, Dr. Myler came in and confirmed. He canceled class and dismissed us.
The normally-a-couple-minutes walk back to my dorm room seemed to take excruciatingly long that morning as all I wanted to do was get back to my room and watch the news. I think the sun was shining and the weather was pleasant, but I can’t remember because I was so determined to get back to my dorm room. I remember walking back distraught, defiant, and in disbelief. Distraught because I had no idea what was going on, defiant because this doesn’t happen in the United States, and in disbelief because I couldn’t believe this just happened in the United States. But I didn’t yet know what “this” was.
Back in my dorm, I turned CNN back on realizing I never should have left just an hour and a half ago. I logged-on to CNN.com to find out more, but due to the mass influx of traffic, the site was down only to return later with a placeholder page of speculative reports and news.
My roommate and I usually kept our door shut, but that morning, everyone including us had their doors opened. People sharing rumors rushed in and out. I recall one person saying Camp David was also a target.
While watching the television stunned, I remember talking with my mom. She wanted to call and make sure I was okay.
The rest of the day was a blur of disbelief as I watched more, read more, and learned more. Those couple hours on the morning of 11 September 2001, though, are a point in my life I shall never forget.
