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Former ESHS Student Personal Experience |
My day started at 5:25 in the morning. I had to wake for mandatory 6:00 weight lifting. I did not go to sleep that night until about 1:00 am. I woke up, still groggy, and said to myself, "this is going to be a bad day"; little did I know what a "bad day" could mean.
I went to eat in the cafeteria at about 11:00am. I had been in class and did not know what happened to our country. As I went to eat, I heard that class had been canceled. I was so happy; I would be able to get my much-needed sleep. I went up to my friend and told her, "Did you hear the good news?" She gave me a very strange look and said, "yes." Up to this point I thought a plane went out of control and landed by the pentagon, this didn't seem that unlikely, figuring Washington National Airport was by the pentagon.
I walked to my dorm and went on the roof, and it all hit me. Like a bolt of lightning I realized the immediate danger that was upon me, my friends, my family, my nation. From my dorm I could see the pentagon burning. The Pentagon Burning! I was captivated in awe that our pentagon, was no longer a uniform building, but separated by an act of terrorism. I examined my horizon and noticed that the pentagon, the fire, the act of terrorism was 2 miles from my dorm; a quick jog along a route that I normally take.
When I first got to my room my first priority was to make sure my brothers were taken care of. I figured that the next probable target for an act of terrorism was LAX. My parents were currently in France and my brothers were more or less by them selves. I could not get a hold of them and began calling my close friends to make sure they were taken care of. After about an hour of calling on the telephone, I was glued to the television. I couldn't believe what was happening, and that it was so close to me.
As people on my floor came to my room, I began realizing how lucky I was. Georgetown has many students from New Jersey and New York, and many of them have family that work in downtown New York. Five of my friends had family members that worked in the world trade center. I went across the street to get a sandwich. I noticed more police cars and many police officers. I saw one of the officers going through the trash, looking for bombs. At first I felt safe that all these precautions were being taken, but then I wondered how safe I really was. The police and military came in droves to Georgetown.
The next day I went down the street to a restaurant and on my way I saw 4 military hummers, approximately 8 police cars, and about 30 cops; all on a 3 block space. There was an increase in public safety officers on campus. I needed Identification to enter and leave my campus.
After the initial impact of what happened I began to feel angry and a little worried. I was mad that these terrorists were infringing upon my way of life. I was concerned about the possibility of another attack on Washington D.C., which again was 2 miles from my school. However, I felt content knowing that my life was in God's hand. I went to church many times that week, not only to pray for the victims, but for personal reasons.
Georgetown is an international community, consisting of many different races, cultures, and religions. The father presiding over the Roman Catholic mass encouraged us to go to a Muslim Prayer service, to first give support to the Muslim members of our Georgetown community that were being looked upon in a negative way, and to learn about their beliefs. I was hesitant to go, but decided to try something new. At first, I heard all this yelling, and I could immediately understand why Muslims could be pinned as dying for their religion, and being radicals. However, the more I stayed the farther from the truth this became. Muslims are VERY devout to their faith, there is no doubt about it, that is why they were yelling, because of their belief in their faith. The radicals use this and try to get people to perform terrorist acts as a part of their believe strongly in peace, and they said any one who kills another, is not apart of our faith. This proved to me that although we do not believe in the same things, they contain the same morals and values toward humanity.
I believe that in moments of extreme danger one finds what is truly meaningful in their life. For me, it was my strong belief in God that gives me strength and purpose. I found that what counts is your family and friends. No matter what you do in your life, your family and true friends will always be there for you. Everything that seemed so important the day before, such as baseball, working out, and even school; was so trivial on that Tuesday. I look back and think that the plane that hit the pentagon flew over Georgetown; and I was that close to being one of those victims. I know that Love was what I would carry with me forever: my love of God, my parents, brothers, friends; my love of life, and passion to strive to be the best I could be. When it is all said and done Love is what matters in life.