First Day of College, 9/11/01, by Anonymous

From MemoryArchive

Who: Anonymous
What: First Day of College
When: 9/11
Where: Greenville, SC

My first day of college was September 11, 2001. My first ever class began at 9:00 am, so I left my dorm room not long after 8:30, so that I'd have time to get there and be a wee bit early. As a result, when the planes hit the World Trade Center, I was in class, and had no idea what was happening. I also had a 10:00 am class, so I went on to that class without knowing anything had happened. Only upon arriving at my second class did our professor announce that something had happened in New York, but that we'd continue to have class. Only after my second class did I return to my dorm and see on tv what had happened. There were kids all over who were just hysterical. A guy across the hall's dad worked in the Pentagon and they had not heard from him yet. Others knew folks in New York and were unable to contact them and were freaking out. Shock, more than anything else, was my feeling. I wasn't really sure I could believe my eyes as I looked at the replays of the planes hitting the buildings.

Our classes went on as scheduled, as Furman decided to following this path in order to show unity and continuity in our lives.

As if all of our freshman lives weren't about to totally change anyways, the events of 9/11 created a totaly different world for us to live in. It's very odd to look back and think about how life would've been different had those events not taken place at all, or even when they did. Needless to say, that is a day that I will never forget.