As the two-year anniversary of 9/11 nears, FAMU students remember the shock, horror and disbelief that day evoked.
Junior Christina Berrieum, 23, recalls turning on her TV just as the second plane struck the south tower of the World Trade Center at 10:05 a.m.
“I couldn’t do anything but think the world was over,” said Berrieum, a health science student from Bristol.
Third-year education student Tarisha Griffith from Havana, remembers being very scared when she heard of the attacks. But she was able to find comfort by “putting trust in the Lord.”
Once reality set in Tynes, a general studies student, said, “I knew it was time for war.”
Less than a month later, a United States led coalition went into Afghanistan beginning the “War on Terror.”
Since 9/11, security in airports has intensified. The Department of Homeland Security was created and terror alert color codes were implemented.
The passage of the Patriot’s Act gave the government more leeway in discovering and preventing terrorist activities at home and abroad.
Senior Dewitt Cooper said he appreciates the heightened security that has resulted from 9/11, but he and his classmate Lashwanda Batts, 19, a sophomore theater student from Miami, hope that the government will remain respectful of individual privacy.
Most FAMU students said that people have a deeper respect for life since the 9/11 attacks; Junior Takeeyon Stewart, an English student from Avon Park, noted the camaraderie of New Yorkers and Americans.
“It’s really nice to see people working together,” said Stewart, 21.
Stewart mentioned the solidarity of New Yorkers during the recent power outages in the Northeast as sign of increased compassion.
Thursday at 8 p.m., FSU Student Government Association will hold a remembrance ceremony in the Wescott Building on their campus.
Thursday at 9:11 p.m., FAMU Student Government Association will hold a candlelight vigil commemorating the Sept. 11 tragedies at Eternal Flame in front of Lee Hall.
C. Lee Lovingood can be reached at leelovein2001@yahoo.com.