Most members of the undergraduate Class of 2015 were only in third grade when the United States and the world were rocked by the events of Sept. 11, 2001, but it was a day whose repercussions have shaped the past 10 years of every person on the Hill in some way. Here is a selection of the reflections we received from members of the Tufts community on their memories of that day and how it has affected them.
The tragic events of Sept. 11 were felt around the world. I vividly recall when I heard the news in England. We all felt paralyzed while we tried to make sense of the catastrophe. Now that I am at Tufts, I can understand the personal sense of connection to what happened. The Tufts community lost family members, alumni and friends. The recent reflections in the local newspapers have also brought home how everyone in the Boston area was touched in one way or another given the connection to Logan Airport.
True to the spirit of Tufts, the community took the deepest of tragedies and found ways to continue on our mission to make the world a better place. With that tradition, we must all join together on this 10-year anniversary to support our colleagues and friends who lost loved ones. This Sunday afternoon, at 4:00 p.m. in Goddard Chapel, members of the Tufts community will gather to remember the tragedy. I hope students, faculty and staff will join us as we pay our respects but also look forward to a brighter future where tolerance and understanding of differences between individuals and societies are celebrated.
-University President Anthony Monaco
Fifth grade, 15 miles from New York; the fire department came into our classroom at around 10 a.m. "There's a gas leak; you all have to go home. Call your parents." Slowly the principal started pulling those of us who he knew had parents in New York in to call them to see if they're okay. Now I know my dad works in Midtown, but at the time though, New York was in danger and I wanted my family as far away from it as possible. I didn't know what was wrong, but I got through to him and learned he was fine. Later that day the mom of another fifth grader told us what really happened. "Someone attacked the United States. They flew planes into buildings. You're old enough, you should know." And we thought the 4th graders were old enough, so we told them too. In the end, everyone was fine. … Well, no, that's not right. Nobody's parents died, but nothing was really fine. I still get worried when I see a plane close to a building. I still fear travel on Sept. 11. I guess you could say nothing's really been fine either.
-Yulia Korovikov, junior
Sept. 11, 2001 was my 10th birthday. I remember waking up with a feeling of accomplishment for exiting the land of single digits, finally able to proclaim I was 10. I remember walking to school with my mom and sister, and I remember the confusing announcement made over the school intercom system at about 10:30 that morning. My fourth grade class and I didn't really understand what we were hearing. I vividly recall thinking that our moment of silence was in remembrance of an historical event, making me wonder how I had never known that I had such an "important" birthday — but slowly the events of Sept. 11 became somewhat clearer to me and my class. I think my most vivid memory of that day was leaving school and seeing both my mom and my dad outside to pick me up. My dad worked during the week and was never around to get me from school — something about seeing my dad, so out of place in the student pickup line after school, struck me with apprehension and made me realize that whatever had happened that morning was seriously beyond anything I could imagine. We celebrated my birthday that night with my Nana; I don't remember the dinner, the cake, or the presents, but I know that my parents did as best as they could — while the rest of the world was in shock, fear, and grief — to help me to have a happy birthday.
-Matthew Dowd, sophomore
I was eight years old. I remember my mom waking me up that morning before school, saying, "Someone just attacked America." At school, everyone knew that something big had happened, but the teachers weren't allowed to turn on the TV or talk about it. When I got home, I pressed my mom for details, and she said that very bad people had taken over some planes and crashed them into buildings, and that a lot of people died, but she wouldn't elaborate beyond that. She said third graders like me should be more concerned about things like, "Where is Japan?" (We were learning about Asia at the time). I answered that I already knew where Japan was, but she still wouldn't add anything. I later picked up pieces of the story from friends, but we weren't allowed to talk about it in class. When the weekly magazines came, the teachers cut out the parts about Sept. 11 so we couldn't read them. I heard that some kids my age were having nightmares or developing extreme paranoia because they had heard rumors that World War III was about to start, and I now know my mom was afraid that would happen to me, but I knew it never would. I just wanted the truth, but no one would give it to me. The events of Sept. 11 taught me that having the truth of a situation is the only way to come to understand and learn from it.
-Audrey Michael, freshman
