What does the date September 11, 2001, mean to you? Chances are, if you’re an American, this is a very emotionally packed day. To me, today is a day that embodies justice, tragedy, and, above all, resilience. We honor this day through memory and tribute, which is what I wanted to do. On 9-11, I asked several teachers questions about their experiences on that day and what it means to them. I asked four simple questions:
- Where were you?
- What emotions did you feel?
- What motivated you to move forward?
- If you were to describe that day in 3 words, what would they be?
These were the results:
Thomas Mullins (Social studies and government teacher at Silverado HS):
When 9/11 occurred, Mullins was getting ready to go to school and waking his children up to get them ready for school as well. When he turned on the news that morning, he found out that we had been under attack, and he and his household “weren’t quite sure what to make of it.” As he further talked about his experience, he said that “everything changed that day,” as people were trying to figure out what to do and what was going on. The emotions that Mullins was feeling were mainly confusion.
“When we found out the toll of deaths and- just the nature of it– just flying those planes into the twin towers, we were just shocked and didn’t get that something like that could happen and that we didn’t know about it, and couldn’t figure out how they could do such a thing and why,” Mullins explained as he further described his emotions. “There was confusion that led to anger and then that anger kind of– it was just amazing that the whole country felt that way.”
Mullins’ motivation to move forward from that day was that as an American, “we knew we had to work together and work against this entire thing.” He says that the country was all on the same page because “we didn’t want this for the future generations, we didn’t want this for our present.”
Mullins’ three words that he chose to describe the day of 9/11 were tragic, sad, and unbelievable.
Stephany Oldfield (Social studies, anthropology, and sociology teacher at Silverado HS):
Stephany Oldfield, on the day of September 11, 2001, was finishing up her second period class of her sophomore year of high school. She had left her textbook in the classroom she was leaving, and as she returned to the class, she saw her teacher frantic and turning on the TV, watching the first tower go down. As the sister of a military man, the main emotion that she felt was shock, and then an immediate feeling that her brother was going to war. Her motivation to move forward from the event was to be strong for her family, specifically her parents, because their only son was going into war. Her description of that day in three words was shocking, scary, and angry.
Nick Pavlides (Social studies teacher at Silverado HS):
Pavlides was at his apartment and woke up and received a phone call from a friend of his who was a pilot. Confused, the friend told him he was okay and told him to turn on the news for Pavlides to see the event that was occurring. His emotions on that day were simply just feeling bad for the people who were just trying to go about their day when this tragedy struck unexpectedly.
His motivation to move forward from that event was the fact that the country came together. Whether it was through sports events or listening to music, “everyone was really patriotic.” Overall, his motivation mainly stemmed from everyone coming together and the way Americans bounced off of each other to get through it. His description of the day in three words was surreal, hurtful, and tragic.
Eric Drum (Math teacher at Silverado HS):
On the day of 9/11, Drum was at Silverado early in the morning, watching the event on TV. His emotions when he found out were shock and horror.
“Those feelings just grew because pretty soon after it happened, it was on live TV when the second tower went down, so it was just horrifying,” Drum said.
Drum knew people who worked in that building who weren’t there that day, but he also knew people who had family members in the building who, unfortunately, were victims of the tragic attack. His motivation to move forward from the event was “life goes on, and you have no choice but to move forward because life is going forward.”
“It was definitely surreal, and the country was feeling things that we all felt together,” Drum stated.
It helped Drum to think about the idea that everyone was going through the grief of the situation together, and in a way, it seems as though it helped them build each other back up again.
His description of the day in three words were horrific, fear, and pride.
Margaret Howe (English teacher at Silverado HS):
On the day of September 11th, Howe was teaching 8th grade and went into her principal’s office to see the TV. She describes that moment as surreal. Howe’s mom was a nurse in New York City at the time, and her brother was a New York City firefighter. Luckily, it was her brother’s day off, but she said, “24 years later, I still get very emotional when I think about how lucky it was that it was my brother’s day off.”
“That day I didn’t know what to think,” Howe said. “I didn’t really put two and two together that my brother could be there.”
Her motivation to move forward from the event was through watching her brother show the brotherhood of the fire department.
“Knowing that you just need to keep moving forward helped me push through it, but also knowing how lucky I was that I still had my brother,” Howe says as she describes how she felt with great emotion.
The three words that Howe used to describe the day were: surreal, blessed, and emotional.
As said before, we as Americans honor this day through memory and tribute. I thank the teachers who were involved for sharing their views and experiences about this powerful and moving day. I ask those reading this to reach out to someone and simply listen to their experiences and let it move and inspire you, as every interview did for me. As former President Bush said, “None of us will ever forget this day, yet we move forward to defend America.”
