The day the towers fell...

I was in third period PreCalculus at my high school in Queens, New York. From our classroom windows we could see the Manhattan skyline, but us "city kids" took this for granted. We never even gave it a second glance on a normal day. But this was no ordinary day.

The dean of students came into our classroom without knocking, interrupting our lecture. She whispered something into the teacher's ear that caused her to run out of the room. That's when the dean told us.

The second plane was about to hit as she said the World Trade Center was under attack. She didn't know much more at that point but urged us to remain calm.

An announcement was made that we would still switch classes until further notice to try and maintain some sense of normalcy.

Televisions were on in every classroom that was so equipped, and radios and TVs were brought into the cafeteria. Role boundaries were broken as teachers and students comforted each other. Nothing we learned that day came from textbooks.

The glorious NYC skyline was quickly being replaced by a dark cloud. In Government class, the teacher said she needed some air. She went out onto the roof only to rush in a few minutes later - she watched the second tower fall.

A heavy cloud spread out over the city that day, and didn't leave for a long time. Smoke billowed from where the towers once stood...I saw this as I went home for weeks and months after.

That day and the days that followed were dark days in New York City and around the globe. Many students at my school were directly affected by the tragedy. My eyes were opened that Tuesday, and I hope they never close again.

On this fifth anniversary of one of our nation's starkest tragedies, tell people that you care, take nothing for granted and, above all, make your life an example of what could be if we could all just open our hearts to the idea of peace.

"All we are saying is give peace a chance." (Lennon/Ono)