Tonya M. Fleetwood

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Title: "The New York Disaster"
Description: I wrote this for my hometown newspaper during my sophomoreyear of college. It's about my experience on 9/11.
Date written: October 2001

On September 11, 2001 (notice the date is 9-1-1), New York City suffered one of the most tragic terrorist attacks that has ever taken place in all of history. At around 8:45 am, a commercial plane crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Center. About fifteen minutes later, a second commercial plane crashed into the South tower. Both planes exploded instantly upon crashing, each carrying many passengers and crew. About an hour later, the South tower crumbled to the ground. Approximately 20 minutes later the North tower fell as well. The falling of the two towers left a harmful cloud of dust in the air that has yet to go away. The city not only lost one of its most famous landmarks, it also lost several thousands of people that day. Many people were injured and killed.

I got up for school that morning around 8:30 am. I was getting ready when I heard a really loud noise at 8:45 am. I did not think anything of it, because it simply sounded like a loud plane that was flying low. Then about fifteen minutes later, my roommates told me what happened. I turned on the television, and it was all over the news. The twin towers had gaping holes where the planes had struck. The two buildings were ablaze. I was so stunned. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I had to get going to my 9:30 am class, so I left. As I walked to campus, I watched the buildings the whole way there. I had a perfect view of the towers. It was so surreal to actually see the buildings on fire. I felt so numb to watch a part of the city that I love so much start to ruin. I watched the buildings burn as long as I could, but then I went to class hoping the professor would cancel class. Class was exercised as usual. However, around 10 am the lights went on and off really quick a couple of times. I’m going to assume that the lights flickered because the towers had collapsed. I didn’t think much of it though, because, to be honest, I never believed that the towers would actually fall. When class was over I walked to my second class. I tried to look at the towers, but for some reason I couldn’t see them. At the time, I hadn’t realized that they were gone forever. When I got to my class, a lot of people were crying. I overheard some of them say that the towers had crumbled. I instantly felt sick. The security guards came in and said that all NYU classes had been cancelled for the day. I ran down the stairs to see if it was true. I looked up at where the buildings had been only to see a huge cloud of dust and smoke. I ran all the way back to my dorm to listen to the news. I watched the replay of the buildings falling, and I felt so sad. I could not believe the World Trade Center was destroyed. Several buildings around the twin towers collapsed later on that day. A lot of the NYU dorms are down in that area, so they had to be evacuated. The students went to other dorms. One of my friends came to my apartment and stayed most of the day. As of now, no NYU students or faculty have been hurt, so that is very thankful news. It’s important to remember that there were other parts of the nation affected on this tragic day.

It was a very scary and sad experience to go through. I live around 25 blocks from the World Trade Center. I wasn’t close enough to be in any real danger, but I was close enough to see the buildings perfectly. The city will never be the same again, and the realization of that will take a while to sink in. So many people lost their lives. It’s all just very tragic. I want to thank everyone that cared enough to email and call me. It means a lot to be thought of on such a catastrophic day. My mom would also like to thank all of you who called to express concern. My health is fine, well, physically anyway. I am happy that I’m here and experienced such a historic event. However, the memories of the day are not joyful ones, but I will keep them with me for the rest of my life.



Go to Documents index Title: "The New York Disaster" Description: I wrote this for my hometown newspaper during my sophomoreyear of college. It's about my experience on 9/11. Date written: October 2001 On September 11, 2001 (notice the date is 9-1-1), New York City suffered one of the most tragic terrorist attacks that has ever taken place in all of history. At around 8:45 am, a commercial plane crashed into the North tower of the World Trade Center. About fifteen minutes later, a second commercial plane crashed into the South tower. Both planes exploded instantly upon crashing, each carrying many passengers and crew. About an hour later, the South tower crumbled to the ground. Approximately 20 minutes later the North tower fell as well. The falling of the two towers left a harmful cloud of dust in the air that has yet to go away. The city not only lost one of its most famous landmarks, it also lost several thousands of people that day. Many people were injured and killed. I got up for school that morning around 8:30 am. I was getting ready when I heard a really loud noise at 8:45 am. I did not think anything of it, because it simply sounded like a loud plane that was flying low. Then about fifteen minutes later, my roommates told me what happened. I turned on the television, and it was all over the news. The twin towers had gaping holes where the planes had struck. The two buildings were ablaze. I was so stunned. I couldn’t believe what had happened. I had to get going to my 9:30 am class, so I left. As I walked to campus, I watched the buildings the whole way there. I had a perfect view of the towers. It was so surreal to actually see the buildings on fire. I felt so numb to watch a part of the city that I love so much start to ruin. I watched the buildings burn as long as I could, but then I went to class hoping the professor would cancel class. Class was exercised as usual. However, around 10 am the lights went on and off really quick a couple of times. I’m going to assume that the lights flickered because the towers had collapsed. I didn’t think much of it though, because, to be honest, I never believed that the towers would actually fall. When class was over I walked to my second class. I tried to look at the towers, but for some reason I couldn’t see them. At the time, I hadn’t realized that they were gone forever. When I got to my class, a lot of people were crying. I overheard some of them say that the towers had crumbled. I instantly felt sick. The security guards came in and said that all NYU classes had been cancelled for the day. I ran down the stairs to see if it was true. I looked up at where the buildings had been only to see a huge cloud of dust and smoke. I ran all the way back to my dorm to listen to the news. I watched the replay of the buildings falling, and I felt so sad. I could not believe the World Trade Center was destroyed. Several buildings around the twin towers collapsed later on that day. A lot of the NYU dorms are down in that area, so they had to be evacuated. The students went to other dorms. One of my friends came to my apartment and stayed most of the day. As of now, no NYU students or faculty have been hurt, so that is very thankful news. It’s important to remember that there were other parts of the nation affected on this tragic day. It was a very scary and sad experience to go through. I live around 25 blocks from the World Trade Center. I wasn’t close enough to be in any real danger, but I was close enough to see the buildings perfectly. The city will never be the same again, and the realization of that will take a while to sink in. So many people lost their lives. It’s all just very tragic. I want to thank everyone that cared enough to email and call me. It means a lot to be thought of on such a catastrophic day. My mom would also like to thank all of you who called to express concern. My health is fine, well, physically anyway. I am happy that I’m here and experienced such a historic event. However, the memories of the day are not joyful ones, but I will keep them with me for the rest of my life.