Why I'm a Journalist

 The things I remember from September 11 stem from a lump in my throat and the feeling that everything was different. Among the things are: a reporter standing in complete silence waiting for the pulverized debris cloud to smother his lens; my 6th grade teacher crying in front of the chalkboard explaining how her daughter was in New York; watching Channel One News replay soldiers and firefighters hanging the American flag on the side of the Pentagon building while the song “With Arms Wide Open” played in the background; and watching the towers fall against the crisp, blue sky and thinking that people are dying in there. I didn’t know what the World Trade Centers were at the time, but people were dying in there.

I remember my homework, a normal middle school collage project. I remember crying too. People died in there.

I remember watching the cloud swallow the reporter and mentioning to myself, “I want to be a journalist.”

When I told my mom this, you can only imagine her reaction. I’m sorry, but for people who don’t know my mom---you’re missing out.

“OH NO ERIN!” she said, shocked.

Although I was only 11 years old, I watched the events unfold on my television in a graphically realistic manner. I remember being disturbed yet I could not take my eyes off the screen. As the reporter waited for the debris cloud, I recognized his commitment to getting the story for viewers like me who couldn’t be there. People died in there.

Media and storytelling combined on September 11 to give us a modular view of what happened to America. We all felt it. We are fortunate to have so many personal, separate story accounts of that day.

What was strikingly traumatic was the seemingly normal day of September 10, I don’t remember it and I don’t have to. My life was mundane and predictable. However, my life, along with everyone's life in America, changed in a split second the next morning. We all connected, one way or another, through a story.

To view more stories about survivors click here. I recommend the story about George Mironis, a man who escaped the World Trade Centers.