The terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 changed the lives of many people nationwide, however they had a profound affect on those living in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. North Carolina A&T has a number of out-of-state students with a large number of them coming from New York. The A&T Register sat down with a few of these students to reflect on their memories of the catastrophic event.
Charles Little
New York
Senior, Engineering Major
Well on the day of 9/11 I believe I was 12 in the 8th grade. It was a regular day in my junior HS (MS 104), but as the day went on we were in a class room and they made us stay in there. They gave us free time which they never did, but I had no idea of what happened. That day, after the planes hit, they shut down cell service & everything else. So my family had no way of contacting me, I realized something happened when it was time for me to go home & I had to stay late. My mother couldn’t come pick me up because she was stuck in brooklyn so my aunt had to come pick me up. I had to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to her house. I never was scared about anything because I didn’t know what happened till that night, I was just shocked.
I feel that 9/11 as a whole affected New Yorkers greatly, I still know people that don’t feel comfortable going to certain public places in NY. After 9/11 the country definitely started to racial profile people from the Middle East. Me personally I try not to think about things like that. I feel if something is gonna happen its gonna happen, no matter if I’m worried about it or not, Its all in God’s hands. I also feel like the attack brought people from New York and the nation as a whole together, and made us a stronger nation.
Dequency Yates
New York
Senior, Information Technology Major
When the first plane struck the twin towers back in 2001 I was only 12. I was a 7th grader in gym class that morning. I believe the period was almost over when one of my friends came into the gym crying. We asked him what had happened and he said that “Iraqis had flew two planes into the twin towers.” We were all confused and unsure of what was going on. Sooner then later students were being called to the attendance office to be dismissed by their parents who were coming to pick them up. It was only a matter of time before I was picked up by one of my friends mother. We were taken to her house while my parents were still at work. There we watched the news and were now aware of what had actually happened and how it did. Everyone around me and including myself were scared. No one knew if something could possibly happen again.
New Yorkers as a whole were devastated. It wasn’t the first time the Twin Towers were attacked, but that last attempt was a fail. To see it actually happen this time was just unbelievable. We also had other high value buildings that could’ve targeted leaving people scared. It also brought about hate and pride. Pride for our nation to come together, but hate towards those who had committed this crime.
Kawanna Foster
New York
Senior, Nursing Major
The day of 9/11 I was in class in junior high school and for some reason over the loud speaker I started hearing students names being called to go down stairs to the office with their belongings. I mean in a span of about 30 minutes it seemed like half of the school went home. Then a teacher came by my class and called my teacher out. He left for about 20 minutes. When he returned he said “Do you all know the twin towers? Have you ever been?” I said, “Yes I know, there in Manhattan.” He said, “Well two planes just hit them in the city and many people have died.” At that moment the remainder of us in that class pulled out our cell phones started calling our parents. My mother worked in the city but she was off that day. No one connected directly to me worked in the buildings but I had a lot of family that worked in the area and couldn’t get home and/or were affect by the debris in the air. I stayed in school for the rest of the day. When I reached home I just watched the news. I remember hearing my mother on the phone asking is this person ok and is that person ok. The news was so sad. Every channel was covering the story. Hearing it and seeing it on the TV was horrific. Later that night my mother got the call from my cousin in DC stating that his wife is ok she was in the hospital stabilized. She was in the Pentagon.
I think New Yorkers as a whole came together afterwards. Although many people were affected directly, those of us who weren’t hearts still were hurting. We still cried and felt horrible. 9/11 took a big toll on all New Yorkers lives and has affected us tremendously. Americans as a whole were affected. Just because it happened in New York doesn’t mean the person in Kentucky didn’t understand our pain. For a long time my sense of security and safety was affected. My family didn’t fly on a plane for a while after that. We were suspicious about taking the train and just walking in the city.
- Sylvia Obell,Managing Editor