First Hand Experiance with 9/11

As my dad woke me up with his loving but stern voice, I never knew that my entire life was about to change forever. I was about to discover just what a hero was and how important they are in our day to day lives. The unthinkable was about to be reality.

I arrived at Jefferson Memorial High School at 7:30 AM, ate a bagel with cream cheese, went to class at 8:00 AM and sat next to the window, as always. I listened to the same old boring seventh grade math teacher drone on and on explaining the same mathematical rule over and over for the other students' sakes. Being bored to no end, I began to stare out the window gazing the city's skyline. It was so beautiful. The magnitude of the buildings and the calm water to complement them was something that never got old. However that calm did end.

A demon possessed plane struck the World Trade Center. It engulfed the top of the tower in Hell's fire. I began screaming and crying along with the rest of my classmates and teacher. The shock of watching this attack almost made me forget about my father that worked on the 97th floor. We were ushered to the heart of the wing in the school, the hallway. We were asked to sit against the lockers but many just laid on the floor in a puddle of their own tears. Sirens filled the air along with screams and cries for help made by students.

One teacher remained in her classroom. She was unable to take her eyes off the tower and then screamed and went frantic. I was unable to determine what caused this. Why had she not been frantic the entire time? Did something else happen? Was there a full invasion on the United States attacking NYC? The principal came over the PA and announced that the second tower had been hit. He also asked for students to remain calm. It was only until that night that I found out that my dad had been late to work and that he missed the attacks. I rejoiced when I heard the news.

The world turned to us. Many nations who had there back to us turned and watched the tragedy. Nations stopped moving, either in joy or tears. The world fell silent with the raging fire eating away the buildings finally forcing them to fall.

I focused so much on the villains that I forgot to recognize the heroes. The firefighters had lost there lives to save others. However they were not the only heroes. The teachers who calmed the students were heroes. If it had not been for them, there would have been a much larger panic. The principal announced the updates on of the tragedy in order to not let students' minds wonder and make it into something much worse. However, it could not have got much worse in my eyes. The New Yorkers that caused the car accident prior to the attacks that caused my dad to be late to work were heroes. I don't know what I would do without him now.

I learned a lot about heroes on that day. I was taught that sometimes you need to look just a little deeper to see who all really is a hero. It made me realize how many heroes we really do have in our day to day lives. It makes me so thankful that we can have this heroes. Either famous or not, they are everywhere living their lives until duty calls.