09/11/2026
September 11, 2001
I was a freshman in college at the University of Tennessee. I didn't have a class until 2:10 that day so I was sleeping in just a little bit.
My Mom called me and told me to turn the news on right then. I did right as I saw a plane fly into a building I had seen in person in NYC just a couple years prior.
I asked my Mom what was going on...and she said they didn't really know yet but that another plane had hit the other building just before this one. I remember going to wake up my suite-mate in the dorm. We were watching our small tvs when the cleaning lady for our floor came walking by and I looked at her and asked if she had seen what was happening New York City. There we stood in our pjs with the cleaning lady and watched in silence and disbelief. Tears steaming down our faces...but no one saying a word.
It was a numbing feeling, I remember. No one was talking around campus. Walking through the campus that day was silence all around. I had to walk through the UC to get to my class that afternoon and we had large/box tvs hanging from the walls. There were crowds around each tv as more information continued to come out.
I remember just wanting to get home. Just wanting to be with family. As the days went on...I remember lots of hugs. Lots of students just sitting in silence. No one had to say anything because we all knew what we were all thinking.
Shock. Terror. Fear. Sadness. Heartbroken. Steadfast. United.
25 years ago...our world forever changed.
Today we pause.
Forever we will remember.
We promise to never forget.
