I was a sophomore at UGA living in Oglethorpe House, or O'House as it was lovingly called. My roommate was Laurin Davis, and it was our second year living together. I had an early math class, Pre-Calculus, which I loathed and was struggling with big time. I never got the hang of scheduling my classes late enough to where I could sleep in, but Laurin always did, so I was usually the first one up in the mornings. We shared a very small room and had a small bathroom area that we shared with our suitemates. Almost every single day, I would wake up and turn on the news, but I didn't that morning because Laurin was still sleeping, and my hairdryer was loud enough! I also never got the hang of going straight from bed to class, so I spent a good hour and a half getting myself ready for a 9:05 class. Another thing I never mastered was getting to class right as it started. I was always about 15 minutes early, but I always enjoyed sitting outside on campus in the mornings. I can't remember exact times, but I'm sure that as I was walking to my class, the first plane hit the World Trade Center. By the time class started, the second plane had hit. We had no idea any of this was going on. In fact, I sat in class for an hour and 15 minutes having no clue what was going on.
When class was over, I headed down to toutoring because I was having such a hard time at pre-cal. I didn't check my phone...I was just going to get the toutoring over with so I could have the afternoon to myself. When I got to Milledge Hall, the lady at the front desk looked at me like I was crazy as I was signing in. She said, "Honey, we are not toutoring today. All classes and meetings have been cancelled because of the attacks." I had no clue. I thought she meant there had been an attack on UGA or something. They were watching TV in the next room, and I stood there in complete and total shock as I watched the footage from everything I had missed that morning.
The rest of the day was so strange. My mom was at a huge conference in downtown Atlanta and was having a hard time getting back. I remember talking to my dad not knowing what to do. I wanted to go home, but people were in such a panic that he didn't want me driving. I remember riding around Athens with a few of my close friends looking for somewhere to donate blood. All the lines were hours long, so we never got to do it. People were shocked. I remember the patriotism in the following weeks/months. UGA did all kinds of memorials and tributes. There were hundreds of specials and documentaries on TV. One in particular really struck home. Our chorus had taken a trip to NYC my junior year of high school to sing at Carnegie Hall. As I was watching a documentary about a recruit training with the fire department that lost so many men, I realized that the little store they set up as a headquarter area was the little amish bakery that we had eaten at every single day while we were in New York. I recognized the areas around the WTC, as we had ridden the subway in and out of there for our whole trip. The hotel we stayed at, the Marriot, collapsed with the towers. It was a completely surreal experience. I could never have guessed we would begin a war that next March which would last until present day. My dad saw the war start but never saw its end.
September 11, 2008:
Life is completely different. I still think about what happened that day and wonder why. Driving to work this morning, many of the radio stations were playing the songs that came out around that time. I still cry when I think about what happened and what it has meant for our country. People became more involved in politics and what was going on in our country. People became more patriotic. People became scared and anxious that it would happen again. I remember being on high terror alert everywhere: the airport, large sporting events, etc. We were scared of the terrorists. We kept hearing, "If you're too scared, the terrorists have won," yet everywhere we go, we're reminded to be on high alert. I don't think about that day as much except when I hear a song on the radio or around a patriotic holiday. I try to be more involved in politics, and a deciding factor in picking a candidate is who would you want on your side in the midst of a crisis.
I think a lot has changed in our world. Issues are more global, or maybe I'm just paying more attention. There are some serious changes that need to be made in our world. Do I think Pres. Bush did a great job? Not in his second term. Do I think that our country is doomed? Not at all. We are a resilient country that has been through so much at a very young age. With so many issues to consider home and abroad, I think this is one of the most important presidential elections ever. I think that the voter turnout will be bigger than ever. I wouldn't miss it for the world.
