09/11/2026
I was a sophomore at Florida State on September 11, 2001. I woke up to my brother calling me on the phone after a night of celebrating my best friend’s 21st birthday, telling me to turn on the TV.
I remember feeling so many things- confusion, sadness, anger, and uncertainty. Everything seemed to have changed that day. Yet, I never really felt the full gravity of this attack until I visited the 9/11 Memorial for the first time on September 13, 2023. Twenty two years later and this memorial really drove home the terror of that day.
For me, seeing the single white rose that is placed next to each name on the day he/she would have celebrated another birthday and reading the uplifting story of the Survivor Tree, which speaks to the resilience of the American spirit, were the two most impactful parts of the memorial.
It has been 25 years, but I’ll never forget.
