8 years ago today...

[KSigkid]

I hesitated to post on this thread because I know there are people on GC who lost family members in the attacks. I had only been on GC for a few months at that point, and I remember reading the posts of people who had lost touch with loved ones, or who had found out that family and friends had died.

Where was I...well, I was still a student at Boston U. at the time. I had an early class, so I didn't see any of the TV coverage until much later. When I got to my second class of the day (a journalism class), everyone else in the class had heard about what happened. The professor walked in and told us that he was cancelling class, and informed us that the media lounge downstairs (we were in the College of Communications at the time) had televisions playing with the news coverage. We all went down and started watching TV.

Now, you have to understand, a good number of students at Boston U are from the NYC area (especially the city and Long Island). So campus was a bit crazy. I remember seeing people walking down the street crying, some hysterically, as they tried to call loved ones in NYC.

A guy who was in the same chapter as KSigRC and I was working in NYC, so essentially the whole chapter was trying to get in touch with him to confirm he was ok. I ended up talking to him for almost two hours that night...it was just crazy to talk to someone who had been right in the middle of it all. He was still in a sort of shock at that point.

The campus itself was a weird scene; BU doesn't really have a campus, per se, it's just smack in the middle of the city. There were almost no cars on the streets, and people were walking around, trying to get reception on their cell phones. I saw a close friend trying to get in touch with her cousin, who worked in the city...I found out later that her cousin was one of the many who lost his life that day. It was kind of like something out of a movie - it was like Boston had completely shut down.

Luckily, the College of Communications had these old-style phone booths, so people were taking turns calling home, loved ones, etc. I called my parents, as I knew they would be freaking out once they heard that one of the planes went through Boston. I called, promised them I wouldn't ride the T for the day, and let the next person go.

Only one of my classes went forward, a History of the Presidency class taught by Professor Dallek. It was really a fascinating class - he's one of the foremost experts on the Presidency, and he talked about Presidential responses to tragedy.

How has it changed me? I really don't know. I remember it, and my heart and thoughts go out to all of those who lost loved ones. I knew one person who died (my orientation advisor was on Flight 175). I consider myself lucky that I didn't lose any close friends or loved ones in the attacks.