Where I was

I remember coming back from my 8 am class back to my apartment to frantically finish up a paper that was due at 12:30. I fired up my roommate's computer and brewed some coffee. Becca, one of my roommates, was the next one to wake up. She asked if she could turn on CNN. I didn't mind, so on went the TV.

Soon, a blip on CNN mentioned that one of the Trade Center towers had been hit by something. It was a brief mentioning and Becca had barely heard it when CNN proceeded to cover another story. I told her to not worry about it because CNN repeated their news stories every 15 minutes.

I continued to work on my paper.

CNN repeated the coverage and I called to Becca to watch. Things seemed to be a little crazy and I briefly watched the news.

But I went back to my paper.

CNN proceeded to cover the Trade Center tragedy more and more and the images of the burning building became the top story. CNN didn't rotate the stories every 15 minutes anymore.

All of a sudden, the second tower was burning. I walked away from the computer and sat on the couch in front of the TV. My head was spinning but I still didn't know what to make of the whole situation.

I stopped writing my paper.

I remember reading across the ticker that the Pentagon had a fire. Shortly after, a CNN spokesperson mentioned the fire in passing and quickly went back to New York. I turned to my roommates and said, "It has to be a kitchen fire."

"Why?", replied one of my roommates.

"Because, it just has to."

By this time, I knew what was going on and I had convinced myself that the Pentagon had a kitchen fire. I knew what my job was going to be after graduation and I was getting commissioned in eight months. The air force I had signed up to join four years ago had changed in an instant.

I stayed glued to the TV while the rest of my roommates went off to their morning classes. I watched both towers collapse while the media attempted to stay calm.

I went upstairs and carefully put on my air force uniform to go to my 12:30 class. I remember I wore my skirt because I wanted to look as nice (well, as nice as I could in the September heat). I wanted to do what I could to honor the people in uniform, so I wore mine.

When I got to class, the auditorium was abuzz about the terrorist attacks. I remember the professor coming into the classroom and mentioning something along the lines of, "things like this happen all the time and we just have to move on and we are going to have class. I personally think the university should not cancel class and give the students real-world teaching."

A loud murmur passed through the 300 seat auditorium. One student raised his hand and started talking. "I am from New York. My family is there. Do you really expect me to 'move on'?" This particular student got up and left class.

The professor attempted to calm the class down, to no avail. Finally, around 1 pm, she asked for our papers and dismissed us.

As I walked home, a girl in ROTC with me hollered out to me from her car. She pulled over and told me that we were not supposed to wear our uniforms until notified by our instructors. I asked her why.

"Because anyone in uniform is a potential target."

I finished my walk home. I don't remember much of the day after that.

I do remember the marching band changed their show to all patriotic music. I completely wrapped my trumpet in red, white and blue electrical tape.

I remember trying to buy an American flag and not being able to find one anywhere.

I remember taking my camera around town and to the Waco VA and taking pictures of the flags at half staff.

I remember going to a vigil at the football stadium on Sept 12.

I remember buying newspapers on September 11 and 12, so I would have them in the future.

I remember wanting more than anything to get my commission so I could help out. I wanted to be anywhere in the air force and not in school anymore. I was ready to serve.

Today, I still remember.