The Class of 2002; The Class of 9/11

After reading several blogs and articles about September 11th's 10 yr anniversary, I guess it's time to do my own.  I won't promise it to be moving or very interesting, but I can promise a perspective different than most I've read. I won't even pretend to know what it was like working for an airline then. I won't pretend to know what it was like to be there. But most of all- I won't pretend like my story is less interesting, less important than anyone else's. We all have our stories. We all know where we were. Here's mine:


I was a senior in high school in a suburb north of Pittsburgh along the Ohio River, about 20 minutes north of the airport.  We were a few weeks into my last year, all excited for the new status of "top dog" and college & SAT's weighed heavily on our minds. My friends & I were excited for the weekend- to celebrate my 18th birthday after Friday night's football game.

There aren't many details about high school I can remember in such great detail, but I can tell you all about That Day.  The first plane hit while I was in Spanish and I didn't find out about it until I got to Calculus.  The rest of my class had been in AP Biology working on a lab with MSNBC running on the TV and watched it happen.  We all thought "Wow. That World Trade Center is one unlucky building."  We carried on with our calculus lesson and continued our day. This brings me Band, where there was a typed sign on the doors to the Music Wing saying "All students need to report to the Choir room. There will be no class today."  I walked into the room and saw both TV's on, playing & replaying both planes hitting the towers.  Then it happened: United 93 went down in Shanksville.

I didn't really listen to the flight number or airline. I just heard: A plane went down outside of Pittsburgh.  My mom was away at work....she was a flight attendant.  I needed to make sure she was OK.  Of course I couldn't reach her- nobody could reach anyone.  My guidance counselor assured me that she was fine and reminded me that the plane was a much larger plane and not my mom's airline, but she would keep trying to call my emergency contacts for me while I went back to class.

Lunch was just eerie.  For the first time in my educational career....the lunch room was almost silent. Even to the most rebellious, acting up on That Day seemed disrespectful.  There was an incredible sense of uncertainty when just hours before, we started our day full of hope & promise of a bright future. Were we going to war? Was there going to be a draft? Would they draft women? What now?

Next was AP Psychology, where our teacher informed us that we would continue our lessons as usual and we would not be talking about what happened.  This upset a few students, who felt they needed to talk about it.  Our teacher was very honest and told us that we as a nation don't really understand it yet, right now we needed to focus on our education and finish our day. I can't even tell you what our lesson was about. I doubt anyone paid attention.

My last class was study hall (which ironically- nobody studies in) and then I went home.  Home to see the events over & over & over again on the TV.  My mom was fine. She wasn't supposed to fly out until much later that day.  But she was stranded with her crew about 6 hours from home.  The week was a blur after that.

My English Teacher's brother worked at the Pentagon- but luckily on the other side so he was OK.  Another friend's dad was supposed to be at the World Trade Center on business That Day, but the meeting was rescheduled.  But the fact remained, our nation was forever changed.  I remember such an amazing sense of patriotism shortly after: flags were put out. They painted 'USA' in the middle of the football field, the band played "God Bless The USA" instead of the Alma Mater before the game.

I don't think any of us knew 10 years ago how different life would be after 9/11.   The Class of 2002....the Class of 9/11.....Some of us are Lawyers, Doctors, Teachers. Some of us heard the call to serve and joined the military. Some are are Politicians, pledging to only do great things for our country. Some of us are struggling to make ends meet, but striving on. We learned that day that while our futures may be bright: future can be uncertain so be ready for anything.  We learned to adapt. We learned to cherish your loved ones and never take anything for granted.