Freshman year at UMD. I was sitting in my elements of drawing and design class when the professor comes into the room and tells the class that a plane has crashed into one of the twin towers.
Like most of the class I was thinking man that is a crazy accident. I imagined a small prop plane had struck the tower probably killing the pilot and maybe one or two other people. I reflected a bit on it being it somewhat scary that my parents who had been visiting my sister up at NYU had been in one of the towers either a few days ago or the day before. I pretty swiftly transitioned my thoughts back to my sub-par drawing skills.
A few minutes later the professor informs the class that a 2nd plane has struck the other tower. That's when it hits, this is no accident. The professor dismisses the class. The school cancels classes for the rest of the day.
For the next several hours roommates and I watch live footage of the towers. We watch as the towers collapse. We hear that another plane has struck the Pentagon. I remember shooting instant messages back and forth with my friends scattered across the country in other schools. I remember trying to get in touch with my sister who was going to NYU.
I remeber the guy two dorm rooms down the hall who was frantically tyring to get in touch with his brother who had been on a business trip. His brother's flight had crashed into one of the towers. As it turned out his brother's co-worker was running late for boarding the plane and his brother deceided to skip the flight and wait to catch the next available plane with his co-worker.
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