View 91101 Opinions

Show Top Posts:	Show All Posts:
an nyu student's experience
Posted by: Michael Peters from New York, NY Sunday January 13, 2002 @ 01:08 PST
well, while my experience with the 9/11 attacks may not be as personal as many others, or as intense, the event nevertheless changed me. in only my second week living in lower manhattan, my day began with an 8am class. the class got out at 9:15am, and none of us knew anything was going on. i walked with my friend down a flight of stairs and heard another student tell her friend that she had just seen the world trade center on fire, as if it were no big deal. i myself, as i'm afraid to admit, passed it off, mostly because i had no idea where the towers were. i walked my friends to her class, then headed up university place to 14th street where my dorm is. as i walked, i realized that more people were walking toward me than ususal, but as i said, it was only my second week as a new yorker, so i passed it off as nothing. once i reached 11th street, i realized that people were standing in the middle of the road, looking downtown. i turned to see the two towers aflame and gaped in awe with the crowd. no one said anything because no one knew what was going on. even at that point i had no idea that what i was seeing was the world trade center towers, i simply saw two burning buildings. after a few minutes of staring and thinking that the fire was much to big to be an accident, i headed back to my dorm once more. i didn't think too much about it on the way, but when i got back to my suite, only one of my three suitemates were there, and he was on the phone with his hysterical grandmother. pathetically, we had just gotten a television in our dorm a few days before, and we hadn't even used it. we both watched the news, trying to figure out what was happening. hearing that the fires were a result of terrorists was incredible, neither one of us totally believed it. after that, reports of the pentagon being hit also, and that the number of hijacked planes was uncounted were even more unbelieveable. sirens from the firehouse behind our building and beth isreal ambulatory care center were constant. my mom called shortly after that, in tears, to make sure that i was alright. i assured her that i was fine, and far away from the towers. i hung up the phone as i watched the first tower collapse on msnbc. now it all seemed to be shaping up to a corny action flick. after some more watching in disbelief, the second tower fell. we began to see ash-covered ambulances and police vehicles fly up and down 14th street. i talked to my mom again, then my uncle and grandmother, assuring them all that i was perfectly fine and reminding to pray for my mother's cousin who worked on the 83rd floor of the north tower. in the afternoon i went to give blood at beth isreal medical center, only to find an 8 hour wait, and a lack of patients to treat. seeing as i went alone, without anything to keep me occupied, i went back to my dorm to once again talk to my mother and hear that her cousin had ran down 83 flights of stairs and across the brooklyn bridge to his apartment, where he was perfectly safe and sound. i kept my eyes glued to msnbc for the rest of the afternoon and evening, only leaving my dorm at 2am to go for a walk after a few hours of just rolling in bed. i walked to find that 14th street seemed like a police state. state troopers blocked any way to go downtown and not a single other person was on the street. i walked from 3rd ave to the hudson river and back, trying to absorb all that was happening. i went to bed around 4:30am, waking to a new day and almost forgetting the events of the day before. i went out to get some food and walked through union square to find a few mourners gathering for support, some with candles and banners. that night i went past the 14th st. barracade and down to washington square where a candlelight vigil was held at dusk. a few hundred people gathered around the fountain in the middle of the park, all holding candles and being perfectly quiet while the smoke still rose from the rubble in the glowing sunset to the south. from a slow murmur, the sound of "god bless america" ran through the people in unison. i left, got some pizza and went back to my dorm, content to keep myself from throughly crying. i spent the rest of that night in my dorm, and went home (albany, ny) the next day. again, not the most impressive of stories, but i hope it gives some of you the feel of how it was to be in the city, but not to be at ground zero at the time. may god assuage the anguish you all feel at your loses, and let him give you the strength to go on.