Year after year people talk about Sept. 11 – where they were, what they were wearing and how they felt watching the news. I’ll never forget my senior year of high school when my history teacher was starting the chapter on 9/11. He asked the class if any of us were old enough to remember the infamous day, and we all sat there in silence looking around. Then he realized he was officially teaching a generation that couldn’t truly understand the weight of that day because we hadn’t been born yet.

I had history classes where we had to go home and interview our parents about it, but I think my mom had already told my sisters and me her story before that assignment. I remember her eyes being so somber, like she was reliving it as she recalled her experience. She was leaving her college class when she saw a group of people huddled around a TV. Once she heard what they were talking about, she ran to her car and listened to the news. My parents were so terrified they tried to fill up with gas, but prices were already skyrocketing and they were limiting gallons per car.

Once we were old enough, my mom had us watch “Flight 93”, because she admired their bravery. She told us how amazing it was for the passengers to not only conquer their fear but turn it into courage to protect their families. She thought the movie was the only way to show us how afraid everyone was. 

I have seen pictures, newsreels, “World Trade Center” and the pentagon’s security clip. It is clearly devastating, as is any tragedy, and the movies make me cry every time, but the impact that comes from living through something so terrifying can’t reach you decades later through a screen. 

Imagine a completely normal Tuesday when a commercial flight flies into a skyscraper after air control lost it. As the news covers this, another plane flies into the neighboring building, but much harder and a ball of fire shoots out. The south tower being hit was the only one of the attacks to be captured on a live broadcast. Now radio is calling these incidents intentional terrorist attacks on American soil. 

After the Twin Towers have been hit, Flight 77 hits the Pentagon — let the weight of that sentence soak in for a minute. A commercial flight hit the Department of Defense. Shortly after, the second tower collapses. Almost half an hour later, the north tower also collapses, but not before a fourth airplane crashes into a field in Pennsylvania. Flight 93 is believed to have been headed for the capitol building before the passengers fought back.

All flights were grounded across the states, President Bush told the military to shoot planes down out of that sky that didn’t follow command, schools were shut down and almost 3,000 people lost their lives.

Consider what this means, our commercial airplanes, planes that are filled with everyday people, were hijacked and used as weapons against thousands of other innocent Americans who were simply just at work. Parents, siblings, children, grandparents and friends who went to work or traveled that morning were unexpectedly murdered. 

America quickly came together during this time. Patriotic songs were being released, men and women prepared for war, American flags waved from porches and Americans stood ready to defend their country. 

Even though we weren’t alive during this time and, thankfully, haven’t experienced such a horrific event, this is our time to remember the thousands of innocent Americans lost and to honor the hundreds of first responders who willingly went into the towers. However, as the future, we have a responsibility to reflect back on that time and recognize their patriotism. After taking such a hard hit, Americans united as one, full of love for their country. Now our great nation is painfully divided, fighting against one another. What can we do to be brought together? Because it shouldn’t take such an evil act for a country to stand united.

This is our opportunity to recognize that throughout American history, it has been war that brought the nation together. Tragedy should not be the only thing that can unite us, we need to find a common ground and get on the same page, so that our country always stands tall. From what I can tell, most of this generation is anti-war, so we need to dig deeper into ourselves and start having each other’s backs. 

Our country is free for a reason. It allows everyone to have differing opinions, to speak them and live by them. We don’t have to hate someone because they think differently than us. We can respect that humans are full of individuality, and it’s actually normal to be different. Be the change by not turning your back on someone, but being empathetic. 

It was selflessness that brought those first responders into the Twin Towers, that had regular employees turn back for strangers or coworkers to make sure they were evacuating. It was selflessness that allowed the passengers of Flight 93 to take that plane down – even if it meant they lost their own lives. Remember their sacrifices for our country. Use 9/11 to ask yourself what you can do to better our country. Whether that comes from voting in elections or holding the door open for the person behind you. 

Let Sept. 11 remind you that Americans are strong and will persevere.

Edited by Jeremy Ford and Stuti Khadka