Still remembering...

[ReiTheJelly]

I had just moved to a suburb of Philadelphia from Michigan two weeks before this happened. I had started college and was in my early-morning advanced Spanish class. There were only about 8 of us in this class, so we were surprised when one girl came in quite late. She was really flustered and was trying to explain what was going on in Spanish (we were not allowed to speak ANY English in this class), but she was so upset she couldn't piece a proper sentence together. She started to explain in English, but our professor told her not to speak English and to sit down. We proceeded as usual with our class work for the next hour and a half.
It wasn't until my Urban Culture and Society class (immediately after Spanish) that I heard what had happened. That professor had CNN going on the big screen in the lecture hall for the entire class. I felt very displaced, because everyone else on campus had know what was going on for about 2 hours before I heard anything.

To me, it was very surrealistic. I didn't really know anyone living in NYC and I had honestly never heard of the WTC before, so I couldn't really wrap my mind around why so many people around me were freaking out and crying a lot. It was like being in a dream - stuff was happening all around me, while I just stood by helplessly.

[90sKid]

I was in fifth grade and remembered that all throughout the day kids were getting called home early. When I got home from school my mom told me that two airplanes struck the Twin Towers in NYC. I didn't truly understand the implication of it until I saw the devastation on TV. My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered a loss on this day..

Exactly the same with me I was in 4th or 5th grade (probably 5th) when it happened. Everybody was getting taken out of class early me and those few left were smiling and laughing in amazement wondering what was going on, then I got home and found out. Such a sad time

..I also let my parents know that I was real flattered they didn’t bother yanking me out too D:

Not to make light of the situation, but that's exactly how I felt too. At school I was one of the few kids left there for a full day as well, and we were all curious about the early leaves. The phone was ringing almost every 10 minutes and we were pretty amused at watching the teacher have to pause class to answer it. (Of course this was before we understood what was happening). When I got home and realized what did happen, I also let my parents know how pleased I was to be one of the few left there.

[D123]

I was in fifth grade and remembered that all throughout the day kids were getting called home early. When I got home from school my mom told me that two airplanes struck the Twin Towers in NYC. I didn't truly understand the implication of it until I saw the devastation on TV. My heart goes out to everyone who has suffered a loss on this day..

Exactly the same with me I was in 4th or 5th grade (probably 5th) when it happened. Everybody was getting taken out of class early me and those few left were smiling and laughing in amazement wondering what was going on, then I got home and found out. Such a sad time

..I also let my parents know that I was real flattered they didn’t bother yanking me out too D:

Not to make light of the situation, but that's exactly how I felt too.

Me neither, my father worked at home and my mother was a stay at home mom at the time so they knew what was going on when I came home he was glued to the T.V I was just shocked since my mom is so protective of me I mean on a scale to 1-10 it’s a 1000

[duotrouble]

My alarm went off that morning around 9am. I heard chattering about one of the twin towers being hit by a plane. As this radio station often did funny skits in the mornings, I thought "what kind of a sick joke is this" and turned off the radio. I turned the tv on as I wanted some background noise as I prepared for my day and coaxed my dog out from under the bed. Every channel had coverage of the tower smoking. I stopped what I was doing and glued myself in front of the tv just as the second plane hit the second tower. I was horrified. I flipped channels thinking I couldn't have just seen what I did. As Matt Lauer was trying to come up with something to say, I watched one of the towers collaspe.

Then, I remembered my dad was traveling that morning. I quickly called him to find out he was traveling by car. Whew! I updated him as he was on the road and not seeing anything. After that, I called my brother at work. All his coworkers were gathered around the radio and internet trying to piece everything together. They were all excited I called and asked me tons of questions about what I'd seen on tv. They worked closely with a branch office in NYC. After that call, two of my friends called. One informing me I still had to go to work and the other had just woken up and was confused. She knew I'd been up and probably informed, which I was.

I took a break later that afternoon at work and called my mom, who had just gotten home from work. She said my dad was on his way home. She was also grateful to hear my voice even though none of us live anywhere near where the action was. However, we were mostly upset about the Pentagon as my dad was retired Air Force and had been stationed there once. He lost a few coworkers/friends there.

And having lived on or near an Air Force base my entire life, I will never forget the silence of no airplanes flying in the skies for the next few days. That drove all the images home for me.