September 11,2001: How did you first hear about it?

[Ghost_Tracker]

I forgot to mention earlier, we did end up having class at Syracuse University that day but - the Administration had "encouraged" the faculty to cancel the planned class and just talk (which I have no doubt was already what most of them were going to do anyway). We did just exactly that - sat around and talked about what had happened and how we were feeling. Right at the end the Professor had us all stand in a circle and hold hands and say a little prayer. The whole thing really was very helpful.

Earlier in the day, I had found myself wandering over to the Student Center and instantly was given a handout by someone at the doorway - a letter to the students from Kevin Morrow - I don't know his official position but he's a V.P. in charge of communication, faculty-student relations, etc. It outlined the University's preliminary response, said that the chapel was going to be open 24/7, said that the ministers there and the counselors in student counciling were available at any time for support, and gave initial plans for a memorial service on the quad outside the chapel. Then I went downstairs, where they had already arranged for a large projection screen tv to be set up, and I watched cnn for awhile. Within a day, plans had been made to grant time off to anyone who had a family member or friend directly involved, or just plain felt unable to continue and needed to take the semester off.

I really must say that i.m.o. Syracuse University showed their best colors that day and in the weeks afterward. The degree of support the Administration and Faculty gave to the students - in an organized, thoughtful way - was remarkable.

[Cornflake Girl]

I was in a math class and a teacher interrupted and said (and I remember her exact words), "Two airplanes have crashed into the Twin Towers in New York, so you can expect to hear about that on the news when you get home." I find what she said really weird but then I guess it was so shocking no one really had any idea what to say. I was only 12 at the time so I only kind of half understood what had happened, and my teacher's words really didn't convey the magnitude of the event; it was only when I got home and started watching BBC news that I realised how catastrophic it was.

[vivfox]

I also remember while watching the news that there was so much information coming in at the same time . That's when the news orginazations started using the tickers. That way you could be listening to what the news person was telling you and reading up to the minute coverage at the same time. Now those news tickers are a regular fact of life, even on regular shows now, when they have a news announcement.
I also remember some people dancing in the street in one of the middle eastern Arabian Countries, as they were celebrating us being attacked.

Also, like some of you have mentioned, I remember the eerie silence of no planes in the sky the whole next day.

[daniellaaarisen]

I was sooooo young, only nine. I saw Stevie live a month after this and I think she made a comment about 9/11 at the show but I honestly don't remember. I have very little memory of the day, which is sad.

[bucklind17]

I was a sophomore in college. I had an 8:00am class that day, followed by a 9:30am class. I remember the professor of my 9:30 class walking into the room and announcing that the plane had flown into the building and that the first tower had collapsed. We all just stared at him. The guy was kind of a jerk and it was a media communications class, so for all we knew, he was testing us to see our reaction and was then going to ask us how such a tragedy would be handled in the media. Obviously, he wasn't. He didn't keep us. My class was in the communications building and someone had put a television in the hallway and most of my class, and a number of others, were huddled around it, watching the second tower until it collapsed. After that, I went back to my apartment, remembering on my way that one of my housemate's father worked in the WTC. She was the only other person home when I got there. Her dad wasn't there that day, he was in his company's other office by chance.

I went to school at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY. Right on the Hudson River. The planes flew right over my school on their way to the city. Being semi-upstate, we had a lot of kids from Long Island, New Jersey and the city at our school, many of whom lost friends and relatives. I still remember the mood of the school immediately following the attacks. I remember the memorial service in the chapel being so crowded that the majority of students who attended were out on the lawn in front, listening through loudspeakers. I remember going to the city again for the first time, two weeks later and seeing the musical 42nd Street and the large American flag they incorporated into the finale and how important it was to me to be in the city so soon.

I didn't grow up in New York City but I frequented it throughout my childhood and college. I've lived here for the past five years. It's very much a part of who I am and I feel proud to be a New Yorker every day. Eight years have passed, but it never is forgotten.

[sara1998]

[QUOTE=desertangel;841962]I first heard about it from my alarm clock radio... what a HORRIBLE TERRIBLE AWFUL way to wake up. QUOTE]

Thats exactly how I heard. My husband actually paid attention, and he said, did you hear what he just said?! Something about bombing the WTC, and I said, oh bull****... haha! Then I went to the restroom, and it hit me what he said... and he ran to the television, and I ran to the phone and caled my father, in hysterics... And I watched CNN for months following. It was my day off, and when my husband left for work I shut and locked all the doors and windows, and Sara and I just played in the house, me glued to CNN being freaked out inside my own home. Terrible feeling. I remember my hubby calling me telling me to get to a gas station asap and fill up everything because the lines were nuts, and prices were steadily climbing. Weird. I hate that day, I hate to see the date. On the bright side, 9-11 was the first time 3 years ago I ever spoke to my step daughter.