A year later: Remembering Sept. 11

Posted: Sept. 11, 2002

Rick Jervis (Summer 1993 Scholar): One year later, I find myself standing at Ground Zero. I was here almost a year ago to the day -- Sept. 8, 2001 -- shopping for blue jeans at the Century 21 clothing store across the street, craning my neck and marveling at the twin glass-and-steel cathedrals that soared straight into the clouds.

The next day I flew back to Prague, Czech Republic, where I've lived the past three years, and was forced to watch the numbing scenes on a bar TV. Now, back in New York, I come out of the Chambers Street downtown subway station, look up and see an enormous gap in the sky where the towers once stood. Looks more like a gigantic construction site now than the massive burial site of twisted metal seared into our minds by newspaper and TV images.

Still, a full year later, there is a slight but distinct smoldering smell in the air. I think of the 2,819 lives that came crashing to their end in that flood of steel and rubble. I think of how the world has shifted since. I wonder if we've maybe learned something about ourselves in the process. I wonder if our enemies have. And I hope the world, even those corners that don't like us, can agree to unite to prevent anything like that from happening again. Anywhere.

Lina Hashem (Summer 1999 Scholar): It's been a frightening year. The threat of terrorism is always in the background, of course, but what scares me more is helplessly watching our country change. Watching our government charge through the international stage, through one war and toward a less justifiable one, turning the world's sympathy into resentment and fear. Watching our government retreat into secrecy at home, trampling rights and removing the protections that were built into our system -- in the name of protecting us.

And now in my community, on the streets and in the stores, I've noticed the atmosphere growing a little more chilly toward me. People worn down by a year of fear, a year of news reports littered with the terms "Arab terrorist" and "Islamic extremist," are letting suspicions override their initial good impulses. Many wonderful Americans, though, still are holding onto their common sense and good nature, and I cherish their friendly smiles now more than ever. Let's hope this goodness prevails in the end.

Edgar Sandoval (Summer 1999 Scholar): This Labor Day weekend, a friend and I drove to New York City for the day. We used to drive most weekends, looking for the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center from miles away as we made our way in from Pennsylvania to the big city. Now, almost a year later, it hit us -- there are no twin towers to measure how far or close we were from the city. They are gone. A year later, we have to accept that the towers and the people who died in the attacks never will come back. And that is the hardest thing to accept today, a year later.

Forrest Valdiviez (Fall 2001 Scholar): Before Sept. 11, I wanted to be a journalist because I loved writing about people. But on that day, I realized how precious human life is. Any journalist, anybody, can write because they love to write. I think the special ones try to love the people they write about first, and love the writing second. Since 9-11, that's what I've tried to do. I hope I never stop trying.

Solange Uwimana (Summer 1999 Scholar): I don't know what to say. It's been a year since terrorists killed several thousand people in one day in the United States, yet it seems we are no closer to resolution than we were that one day. All around me are talks of more bombings, more killings, of secret military trials, of nuclear and biological weapons, of war. These talks permeate the air, as if at any moment, we could be reliving another attack.

Every time I think about it, my mind shies away in horror. I live in Washington, D.C. I saw the Pentagon's gaping hole days after the attacks and smelt the smoke that surrounded the area for weeks. Would another war prevent another attack?

Amy McFall Prince (Summer 2000 Scholar): I keep hearing about how changed we are as a society because of Sept. 11, 2001. But I often wonder how much we've really changed. I'd like to think we could walk away more tolerant, more cognizant of the impact of our actions, impact, but I know not everyone will. I would like to think I never will have to cover a story like that in my backyard, but I know there is no immunity.

I've changed. But not just because of Sept. 11. The date is part of my memory now, and it is a new benchmark in my life. It surpassed the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that shook the windows around me from 20 miles away, something I thought never could happen.

I don't want to write or read about something that could surpass Sept. 11, but I won't say it can't happen. I have changed.

Aissatou Sidime-David (Summer 1991 Scholar): We thought Sept. 11 and its aftermath would make us more compassionate, more careful of how we trod on others. Instead, America has been more suspicious and prone to kick someone out of the way first and, perhaps, ask questions later. Let's show that we did learn from our grievous internment of Japanese citizens during World War II. We can improve security precautions without spitting on the Constitution and trampling individual rights.

Curtis Esquibel (Summer 1999 Scholar): I can't believe a year has passed since that horrific morning. Like so many Americans, I will be reflecting and remembering as those mesmerizing images replay themselves and those feelings of emotional helplessness resurface. I know I will recount all of my steps from that day we witnessed tragedy live from our offices and living rooms. I'm still not sure if the magnitude of what happened is all that explainable, even a year later. Could there ever be a more somber anniversary?

Sally Farhat (Fall 1999 Scholar): It's one year later. I now am living in New York City. On Sept. 11, 2001, I was living in Seattle. Being here -- meeting people whose family members were killed that day -- somehow changes everything. I feel in a way that I didn't feel before. A year ago, I was ashamed to be Lebanese-American. Now, I am proud. Proud because I do have a wonderful culture. And I won't allow the world judge me because of a few people's evil.

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