In general, I feel worlds away from 2001. Ten years ago, I had just started my junior year of high school, just months away from getting a driver’s license. I liked school, had a part-time job and was involved in too many extra-curriculars. I was a bit of a drama queen and, even this early in the year, my biggest concern was getting a date for homecoming.
At the same time, I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since the September 11th terrorist attacks. Like many people, I can remember that day so clearly. I was sitting in my first period math class when a tardy student came rushing in. She told us that a bomb had gone off in New York City. Not long after that, the television was turned on and our entire school began watching the repetitive footage and hearing the terrible truth: no one knew what was going on. We literally did nothing that day in school. Every period was spent watching TV, if not in your classroom then in one of the common areas: the library, the auditorium, the cafeteria. I don’t remember anyone talking. I do remember being yelled at late in the day by a teacher who didn’t understand why I didn’t want to watch the news any more. Why didn’t I want to watch? I thought the world was ending.
10 years later, the world has not ended. It’s surreal for me to think back to the fear that gripped me that day. To think about all I’ve experience since 2011 and the people whose lives were cut short that day. We should all be grateful to those who fought for us then and since.
In honor of today, there have been a lot of really quality posts:
In case you forgot what September 11th looked like, Life has put together an excellent collection of the 25 most powerful photos. (via mental_floss)
On The Simple Dollar, Trent has some reminders about predicting and preparing for the future.
Mental_floss reminds us of some of the incredibly supportive international reactions to the attacks.
I really enjoyed Whitney’s late night posting about September 11th, though that may be partially because we were both in the same high school that morning.
How did comedians respond to 9/11? The Nerdist has a video and links to remind us.
On Yahoo, the story of a student’s photograph, taken from the sky, just months before the towers fell. (via mental_floss)
I don’t remember if I read online news on that day, but Mashable has an archive of many September 11 front page online headlines.
Time really flew by… those posts are great- I haven’t spent much time looking at the images in recent years, that Life set of photographs is really powerful, as is the post from mental floss. Thanks for the mention Emily!