#518 | Tuesday, December 18th 2001
I was in Spanish class at 10 when I found out. We had heard a annoucement about threats earlier, but whoever announced it made it seem like we were just being threatened and that nothing had happened. Then we turned on the Tv and a gasp ran the room. One girl said Oh my gosh, it looks just like a movie. And we all didn't know what was going on, then i heard them say something about Washington and the Pentagon and how they didn't know where planes were and there could be one anywhere. I was shaking so badly and couldn't stop. Some of my classmates just shrugged it off after the intial shock wore off, but I couldn't take my eyes off the screen and I was crying. I knew people in washington, this just can't be happening. And then the tv told us the little they knew which made it even worse. I stayed glued to the tv for the rest of the day. Hoping and praying.
Staci | 15 | Virginia

#413 | Sunday, December 9th 2001
I was in my school, Stuyvesant High, when the planes hit. I was in my pre-cal class when I heard a muted booming sound. There was always some construction around our school and I didn't think much of it.
Sometime near the end of the lesson, an announcement was made that a "small plane" crashed into the World Trade Center, and that we couldn't go out for lunch, as was the custom.
The teacher went on with her lesson (who can blame her?), and in the my next class, the TV was on (every classroom in Stuy has a TV.)
That's when I saw the huge fire and smoke and almost cried over the clips showing the planes crashing into the WTC. Not only that, from the classroom we had a partially obstructed view of the north tower. It looked like the tower had a huge gash, bleeding smoke.
I only became scared when they reported that the Pentagon was hit too. NBC showed live footage of the smoking Pentagon and wasn't able to provide any more information.
The ground shook, the lights flickered, and the TV went out when the first tower crashed. That was the scariest moment of my life.
About an hour later, the decision was made to evacuate the school. Everyone walked up north and I didn't stop walking until I was somewhere around 50th street, where I called my parents. Since hearing the news that all subway and bus service was suspended, I walked over the 59th street bridge to Queens and got on the #7 train when I saw that it was running.

Weiyin | 15 | New York

#388 | Saturday, December 8th 2001
The first time I heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center I was entering my second period class. My Spanish teacher was fiddling with the computer with one of the other Spanish teachers (don't know his name). They finally got it to work and started looking for CNN. Someone in the class asked what was going on in class and the teacher what was going on. She says something to the effect that America was just attacked and the World Trade Center towers were hit.

To be truthful my first reaction wasn't quite that potent. I mean I wasn't even really sure where the WTC towers were. However I was interested in finding out what was going on. Apparently so were all of the students in my class because for the first time I could remember everyone was quiet.

Finally we found a reliable news station. I remeber they were talking about the second plane attack and I was just numb. I was just sitting there soaking up the information like a sponge not really comprehending what was being said.

I didn't start crying until I saw one of the buildings collapse. A few minutes earlier they'd been talking about evacuating the injured people outside. All I could think as I saw the building collapse live was that all those people never even had a chance to get away.

Later my class turned to a local news station. In it they were talking about all of the places in the city that would be evacuated. True to form, we were concerned about we griped about our shcool district not releasing us. I know that's extremely shallow thing to do, all I can say is that I think some of us were trying to hide how upset we were, I know I was.

Then someone mentioned that they were evacuating the Johnson Space Center. My first thought was 'oh my god my mother works right next to there.'I said it outloud in this flat emotionless voice and someone, I think Matt, told me they were sure they'd evacuate her job too. Honestly I didn't think of it again until I got home. Every time I got so scared, I just felt like some one had splashed ice cold water on me.

I went to lunch after second period. My friends and I discussed what had happened and who we thought was responsible. We discussed what the country was going to do and what we thought should happen. Also true to form we managed to bash Bush as many times as possible.

Nothing was really accomplished that day. A lot of my friends parents came to pick them up from school. I'm sort of glad my mom didn't pick me up. I learned a lot about my friends that day that I'd never have known. I think the things that stands out the most for me is that no one cried. Kids discussed things like it was something we were learning about in history. When I think back to that day I have to keep myself from crying.

So where was I on September 11th. I was sitting in my Spanish class pretending I wasn't about to break down and sob.

Roz | 15 | Texas

#325 | Saturday, December 8th 2001
I heard about it when I was walking down the halls of my school and I heard some kids talking: "Did you hear about the hijacked plane?" Then when I walked into my biology class the TV was on, and the rest of the day was spent going from class to class each with the TV on watching in horror.
Sam | 15 | Pennsylvania

#302 | Thursday, November 29th 2001
i was at home from school because i was sick. after waking up to tell my mom that i felt too awful to go to school, i went back to sleep and awoke to 'oh my god..oh my god..oh my god' my mom was standing behind one of the chairs in the livingroom and looking at the tv screen with wide, disbelieving eyes. i asked what was going on and she told me. we followed the story the entire day and i couldn't stop writing about it. shock, outrage, and then the sudden urge to cry assaulted me at different times throughout the day. but i didn't cry. i am now keeping a scrapbook of everything that has happened and is happening. it includes political cartoons and newspaper clippings. tid bits from the internet and my own personal reactions. it's almost full. i'll have to start another.
Jessi | 15 | Missouri

<< | < | showing 131-135 of 142 | >| >>
search again

welcome
view / browse
search
about


link us



website: wherewereyou.org
All entries are copyright their original authors.