The Horror, The Horror is Neil deGrasse Tyson’s “first-hand account of the WTC attacks and subsequent evacuation from Lower Manhattan residence. A heavily forwarded e-mail that became the subject of an article in the Wall Street Journal a week later on the widespread use of the web to communicate the tragic news of the day.”
This was written at 10:00am the next day and is powerful and hugely emotional to read but worth every word. I was fortunate enough to be on the other side of the river in New Jersey going to high school when the planes hit. I was lucky and didn’t lose any loved ones but today when telling my story to my Korean students and opening the floor for questions I realized how profoundly I had been changed by September 11th.
In spite of all the death, destruction and hatred there must be a silver lining. My students struggled to understand anything other than that death and destruction caused by terrorism. They started to comprehend how the world was different when I told them about changes to airplane rules but more importantly I focused on finding the helpers. Quoting Mr. Rodgers to them I said
“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news my mother would say to me “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.” tweet
I proudly told my students about my firefighter, medic and policeman friends. I beamed when talking about my scoutmasters who were volunteer first responders. In spite of all the bad in the world its important to remember how much good there is too, think of your loved ones often but especially today! I did my best to inform my students to always strive to be one of those helpers; even if its just a friend in class you can help someone and that will make all the difference.