I was so excited about junior high and when the attacks took place, all my enthusiasm was subverted. During this period in my life, (before the September 11th attacks took place), I had a great fear of Doomsday. I was raised by Christian parents and I couldn’t even be in the same room as them when they were discussing Bible Prophecy. So one can imagine how I felt when I walked into school on that fateful day and I heard everyone shouting, “yeah World War Three!” and “yay Armageddon!” At first, I had no idea what had happened. Originally, I was assuming that something had occurred in the Middle East that had to do with Bible Prophecy. I made that assumption judging by the remarks everyone was shouting. I didn’t find out what had really happened until I got to my home room class. My home room teacher addressed us on what had taken place, as did the teacher in my next period class. It was obviously the topic of discussion throughout the entire school day. I went home that day in the middle of my first period class. My family figured I would be filled with fear and anxiety, so they decided to send my older brother to walk me home from school. They made up an excuse that my Grandmother became very ill, just so I could come home.

Prior to 9/11, I didn’t know what a terrorist was, or what they did. I had never heard of Bin Laden or been told of his infamous history. I never even knew that the World Trade Center in New York City had even existed! I was too caught up in my own life; I was completely oblivious to the outside world. Before September 11th, I had never taken the time to sit down in front of the television and watch a full news broadcast. I was afraid. I was terrified of global affairs and I couldn’t stand listening to bad news. I just thought it was best to disaffiliate myself with the news completely. But I learned the hard way I can’t do that. Today, I read up on the news frequently and I’m confident I know the world pretty well. I now know that the fight against terrorism is very real and we cannot pretend it isn’t happening. The way I see this, is that these people will stop at nothing to destroy the American way of life and Democracy as a whole.

I advise not just every American, but all the people of the free world to wake up and brace themselves for a very long fight. Global affairs and the fight against terrorism simply can’t be ignored, and pretending that nothing serious is happening is a big mistake. By ignoring something of great importance is a guaranteed way to get bit in the butt. I understand that everyone doesn’t like the thought of living in a chaotic and violent world, but it’s unfortunately the truth. Nobody can close their eyes to it. There is never going to be everlasting peace and harmony.