Students reflect on 14th anniversary of 9/11 attacks

By CATHERINE PALMER

Today marks the 14th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks that took the lives of nearly 3,000 people in New York City, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania. Hopkins students, many of whom were as young as four at the time while other were seven or eight, reflect on the events of that day and the importance of commemorating the tragedy.

Senior Albert Chavesta, who is from Long Island, was seven at the time. He remembers being let out of school early but not understanding why.

“I just remember going home early and just seeing the thing on the news and the whole airplanes hitting the Twin Towers,” Chavesta said. “I didn’t really know what to make of it.”

Chavesta said he started processing what happened about a year after the attacks.

“I don’t have friends or family members that were super affected. But my sister had friends [whose] fathers passed away. They were firefighters… And that’s kind when it hit me like, ‘Oh, wow. This was real,’” Chavesta said.

He also knew many people who were going to be in New York City that day.

“I definitely heard a lot of stories of people that were supposed to be in the city that day,” he said. In particular, he mentioned hearing classmates say that their parents had worked in The World Center but, by chance, had not been there at the time.

Sophomore Lauren Fogelman was five years old and also remembers getting out of school early. She said her mother shielded her from watching the news coverage of the attacks.

Fogelman remembers her father not wanting to leave work early, not yet aware of the scope of the attacks.

“I don’t think anyone really understood the magnitude of what was happening until afterwards,” Fogelman said, “because nothing of that kind had ever really happened before.”

She said years went by before she saw footage from that day.

“I went to the [National September 11 Memorial & Museum] sometime in high school… and I got to see the whole footage because they have a room dedicated to it. And that’s where I watched the whole thing for the first time,” Fogelman said. “I think I cried a little… because when I was younger I obviously didn’t understand it. But knowing what had happened and seeing some of that was a lot.”

Freshman Ben Nissim, who was four, said he started learning about what had happened in third or fourth grade from his teachers and through school memorial events. He later went to the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which he described as a meaningful experience.

“It gives you a connection to the event even if you don’t live near New York, you don’t have any relatives that were affected. It’s still very important,” Nissim said. “I think the whole country should be aware of what happened and they should commemorate it.”

Junior Alexa Potts also believes Sept. 11 should be commemorated nationally.

“It is extremely important to commemorate the anniversary for all who died on 9/11 and for all those they left behind who are still trying to heal. Every day they can never forget, nor should we,” Potts wrote in an email to The News-Letter.

Senior Agastya Mondal believes commemorating Sept. 11 is especially important to inform younger generations about the attacks.

“The event is slowly transitioning from what was a current event to people in my generation, to a historical event for younger generations,” Mondal, who was seven at the time of the attacks, wrote in an email to The News-Letter. “The commemorations serve as a somber reminder that the event is still very real in the eyes of many of our peers."

Freshman John Kettle was in kindergarden and learned about what had happened from his parents two years after the attacks. However, he said it took years for him for to fully comprehend the events of that day. He hopes Hopkins will commemorate the 14th anniversary of Sept. 11.

“As a freshman in college, I would definitely expect the University to make some remarks about it, definitely try to remember it,” he said.

Residents of Maryland who lost their lives in the attacks are memorialized at Baltimore’s World Trade Center, located in the Inner Harbor.

“Dedicated on September 11, 2011, the 9/11 Memorial of Maryland at Baltimore's World Trade Center honors the extraordinary heroism, commitment and sacrifice of Maryland’s 9/11 victims, rescuers, first responders and their families,” a statement on the Maryland State Arts Council website reads. ”The Memorial provides a special place of contemplation and a site to remember and reflect upon the events of September 11, 2001,”

The memorial’s main feature is a 22-foot-long steel artifact from the Twin Towers, composed of three twisted steel beams. The memorial also features three limestones blocks from the Pentagon’s west wall and three granites monoliths to represent the lives lost on Flight 93 in Shanksville, PA.

President Barack Obama will be visiting Fort Meade, located about 20 minutes outside of Baltimore, today to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the attacks.

“The president looks forward to having a conversation with the patriotic men and women who work every day to make America safe,” deputy press secretary Eric Schultz said Wednesday.