We will never forget

Gary Hershorn/Reuters /Landov

The morning of September 11, 2001, I woke up to the sun shining between the blinds of my 2nd-floor dorm room window of Cambridge House in Colonial Square the beginning of my junior year at Hofstra University.  It was the kind of morning where it was so bright and sunny, it seemed like anything was possible, the kind of day where natural forces seemed to be sending a message of optimism and possibility.  It was the kind of day that made you want to get up and get out early to hang out outside for a while before heading to class.  As I was headed out the door, my roommate, staring at the TV, told me to wait.  As we sat there and watched the events unfold live on TV that day, it was clear that things would be different in the days and weeks to come.  It seemed doubtful that subsequent mornings would offer the same sense of opportunity.  Nevertheless the tragic event gave way to yet another example of human resiliency of the human species.  In the wake of this horrific attack, New Yorkers began to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

Here is an article and video about the the rebuilding of Ground Zero.

Though this is a more recent event, it is yet another example of how it is impossible to understand the world we live in if you don't know about the events of the past.  This week, we brainstormed ways the world has changed since the students' parents and grandparents were born.  Looking back, a change that was not heavily mentioned is how we view homeland security.  The post-9/11 world students were born into is one that views terrorist cells as as much of a threat, if not more, to American security than foreign sovereign nations.  Again, we are given an example of how we are at the same time participants in history and also products of it.

In class, we looked at an example of how ordinary individuals are thrust into extraordinary circumstances.  We watch an ESPN clip showing the story of Welles Crowther, aka the "man in the red bandana," a 24-year old credited with saving at least a dozen lives in the World Trade Center South Tower before he ultimately died in the attack.  Going back to David McCullough's speech, he asks us to look at these examples in history as lessons in appreciation and as inspiration to live up to their legacy.  American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson has a similar take on how to view history:

The world exists for the education of each man. There is no age or state of society or mode of action in history to which there is not somewhat corresponding in his life. Everything tends in a wonderful manner to abbreviate itself and yield its own virtue to him. He should see that he can live all history in his own person.