Remembering 9/11

My memories of seven years ago are probably much like everyone else's. Well, at least the same as those who weren't in New York that day. I was in college. I was walking in between classes when someone called me and said "The World Trade Center has been bombed!" I laughed and said, "yeah, that happened like 10 years ago." They said, no it's on CNN right now. I walk to the production center at MCC and find several other people in the control room watching Fox News and CNN. Sure enough, the building was on fire. I watched as the other plane crashed into the second tower and then the Pentagon and all that. I remember sitting there and hiding my face because I was crying. We had the ability to watch several networks at once. I watched as one Fox news reporter was on the ground reporting. Another network had an aerial shot of the towers. Just as the second tower fell, the Fox News reporter started running and then his feed went to snow. I don't know what happened to him. That really affected me.

We (my broadcasting class) decided to shoot video reactions. Not many people knew about the chaos because most were in classes that morning. We helped the production center set up TV's in the cafeteria and the lobbies so everyone can watch. There was an impromptu prayer service at the flagpoles in front of the school around noon. The President of the school was there and prayed with the students about how this day would change our lives forever. A local pastor was there as well. He spoke about remaining strong and unified as a nation. We lowered the flags in support. I videotaped most of it. I walked around and watched as students and teachers sat in the hallways and watched in silence, some hiding their tears, some not. The President cancelled classes for the rest of the day.

I eventually went to work that day. I was working part-time at the TV station then. There was no reason to go there. There was nothing to do. The networks kept broadcasting for two & a half days. We weren't given a local news opportunity until Thursday night, I believe. We all just kind of sat around and moped. Everyone was in a daze for about a week. I don't remember much about the rest of the week. I do remember worrying about one of my co-workers. Clay Miller, our weekend sports anchor, was in New York and had been on a plane that was ordered to land. The emotion of that day and the weeks following were so intense. I remember feeling scared, feeling like World War III had just started and I was going to live through it. I remember worrying that another Depression-like event was imminent. I remember feeling very patriotic, wanting to do whatever I could to help whoever I could. Then I remember feeling helpless. Wondering who, why, and wondering if it was going happen again.