he first thing that comes to mind when the subject of 9/11 comes up is usually, “Where were you when it happened?   Do you remember?”

Maybe you were watching the TV in a classroom, sitting in school, or behind a desk, helpless as you and your students watched the terror happening in the state so few hours away from your home.

Missy Stertzbach, coach of speech and debate, remembers exactly were she was when it happened; Sterzbach said it is something she may never forget.

“I was in my office at the corner of 62nd St. and 2nd Ave. in New York City.” She said, “Our office was located approximately 80 blocks from the World Trade Center and about 40 blocks from the United Nations.”

However, just because people knew it happened, didn’t mean they knew what had happened.

“Initially we, like everyone else, thought that it was a horrible accident of some kind,” said Stetrzbach, “It was impossible for us to know if our whole city was under attack.”

While Stertzbach was in New York, waiting as the action unfolded around her, Raeed Tayeh, a writer and a part of the Muslim American Society, had to sit and watch from his living room, helpless.

“I heard about the first plane over the radio at 9 a.m.,” Tayeh said, “I went to the TV and watched as the 2nd plane hit the World Trade Center.  I stayed glued to the TV for the better part of the next 14 hours.”

Millions of others sat at home, just as helpless as Tayeh, while four hijacked planes crashed at different locations around the US.

At 8:46 a.m. EST, flight 11 crashed at roughly 466 mph into the North Tower of the World Trade Center between floors 93 and 99.

At 9:03 a.m. EST, flight 175 crashed at about 590 mph into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, between floors 77 and 85.

At 9:37 a.m. EST, Flight 77 crashed into the western side of the Pentagon.

At 10:03 a.m. EST, United Airlines Flight 93 was crashed by its hijackers and passengers, due to fighting in the cockpit, in Somerset County, Pennsylvania

While each of these planes plummeted to their devastating crashes, millions of Americans sat at home in front of their televisions, hopelessly watching the havoc being wreaked on their nation. Many people didn’t completely understand what was happening. Was this just a freak accident, or something more severe such as terrorism?

“To be honest, I felt almost instantly that it was terrorism,” Tayeh said, “Planes don’t just accidentally fly into skyscrapers.”

Sterzbach agreed.

“Fanatics pointlessly took the lives of thousands of innocent people and themselves in the name of their religion,” she said. “[If] they were trying to make to make us suffer, mission accomplished.  [If] they were trying to make a point, mission failed.”

 Senior Ashley Hegidus was only in second grade when the towers were attacked.

“Since I was young, I didn’t really know what was going on,” Hegidus said, “I remember thinking that something bad had to have happened since all the teachers were worried and scared, but I wasn’t really sure what that was.”

Though it was extremely challenging for a second grader to understand what was happening, it was just as difficult for adults to wrap their minds around the events that had occurred within just a few hours on what would have been an otherwise uneventful morning.

“I think that many Americans still don’t understand what happened on 9/11.” Tayeh said.

Sterzbach agreed.

“…Once we got word that the second plane had hit, I experienced a great deal of emotions,” she said, “We were shocked and horrified, but we were also very scared.”

News stations all over New York were arriving at the scene of the crash, trying to cover the story unfolding around them, although no one yet truly understood the magnitude of what had happened. Once people discovered that the planes had been hijacked by terrorists, there was even more shock, confusion and anger.

“I can’t imagine wanting to hurt that many people,” said Hegidus, “I think they wanted to send a message to America to show what they could do and to make us scared.”

Tayeh agreed. He said that he immediately knew terrorism was behind the attacks.

“I knew that if other Muslims were to blame for this horrendous act, it would have serious consequences and lead to an anti-Muslim backlash,” He said.

Hegidus also said that she hoped the attacks would not lead to anti-Muslim groups attacking Muslim people and churches.

“…Because of 9/11, many Americans stereotype and judge people from other countries and religions,” she said.

Although this may not have been the outcome those terrorists were hoping for when they hijacked the planes that day, the only things that came out of 9/11 were fear, misplaced anger, a national sense of sorrow and a strong sense of national pride, brought together by the events at hand.

Tayeh said just because someone is a Muslim does not mean they are a terrorist, although this is the perception that many Americans now have.

Regardless of the national view of those who caused the horrible tragedy on September 11th, 2001, one thing is for sure; what did not kill us made us stronger.

“There was a very powerful thing that happened in the months that followed,” Stertzbach said, “Americans came together and proved that together, we would survive.” n