Where were you on 9/11?

I was sitting in my high school AP English class watching everything happen in New York and… I was sitting in my high school AP English class watching everything happen in New York and D.C. on television, wondering if the plane that crashed 20 miles away in Somerset County was just a coincidence.

Sarah Bingler, Opinions Editor

I was sitting in my high school choir class when the principal’s voice echoed over the loudspeaker. After she told the entire school that there was breaking news, the choir instructor turned on the television and we all watched for several minutes. The teachers didn’t have much work for us the rest of the day, instead we just discussed the shock of the events.

Sarah Kaufman, Assistant Copy Chief

Sitting in second-period French class in Warrenton, Va., I watched as my teacher left the room to speak with a school administrator and returned to the room in tears. The class gathered around a computer to watch live Web feeds as the second plane hit and the towers fell. Since so many students had parents working in the Pentagon, the loudspeaker endlessly paged kids to the office to receive messages about the lives of their parents.

Jessica Lear, Editor In Chief

I was going through my second day of high school in North Philadelphia; as a result of the attacks, classes were let out after 3rd period. I borrowed a cell phone to call my parents, but all of the lines were jammed. I made my way to center city to get home by train only to find that all the lines were shut down. A few hours later, I was home watching the endless loops of video on the news.

Matt McCabe, Assistant Layout Editor.

I was living in Fairfax County, Va., about 12 miles away from the Pentagon when I first heard. It was during Spanish class, and although there was a strict ban on cell phones at our high school, anyone who had family members in the Capitol found out quickly. It was quite common for both parents and close relatives to work for the federal government, and we were all afraid for their safety. Even five years later, the concrete barriers that stand in the Capitol are evidence of our continuing worry.

Andy Medici, News Editor

The news of 9/11 struck me by way of a phone call. A case of mono forced me to my couch for the week rather than a chair in a classroom. As I was sleeping that morning, my cousin called me from his Air Force base. He was just checking in with all the family, but the conversation was a little hectic because of the sirens on his base going off in the background because of the plane crashes.

Alan Smodic, Sports Editor

I was a sophomore in high school, and after the planes hit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the administration at my high school made an announcement to all the teachers to turn the televisions off and not give students any information. My German teacher said, “This is history. You can’t miss this,” and left the televisions on. When I got home from school, my mom was still sitting on the couch in her pajamas — she hadn’t even stopped watching television long enough to eat.

Annie Tubbs, Managing Editor

Upon walking into my second period government class, I took no notice of the television tuned to CNN until I realized what was happening on the screen. As the events unfolded, I completely forgot about finally getting my driver’s license the day before. My teacher began to panic more and more about his close friend who worked in New York City and I began to panic more and more about my dad, who was in Jacksonville, Fla., on business and due to fly back to Michigan that day.

Anna Kissell, Copy Chief

I remember the sun was shining very brightly that Tuesday morning, and I was sitting in an AP American History class. A student suddenly ran in the room and gave a vague and confusing statement about the attacks. Minutes later, our principal came on the loudspeaker and instructed all teachers to turn off their televisions and radios and “carry on as usual.”

Jared Trent Stonesifer, Assistant News Editor

Walking through the halls of my high school, I saw one of the shop teachers running down the hallway yelling, “They blew up the twin towers!” The scariest thing about that day was not knowing who “they” were.

Keaton Carr, Assistant Photo Editor

I remember walking through the halls of my high school with a friend, and if other people were talking about it already, then I was completely oblivious to it. Another guy I knew, Donny, stopped us with this kind of frightened excitement that let me know that something important was going on. He said someone had bombed the Pentagon, but that’s pretty much all we had a chance to say to each other before we went separate ways, but the television was already on in my next class.

Tim Stienstraw, Assistant News Editor

I was walking out of French class on Sept. 11, and I remember hearing a girl say something about a plane crashing into a building in New York City. I didn’t think anything of it and continued to my locker and my next class. Upon arriving in CAD class, the television was on and everybody was watching reports of the planes crashing into the World Trade Center.

Pete Madia, Photo Editor