For the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the Wildcat asked members of the UA community what were they doing during the defining event of our generation, and how the events changed their life.

"I was sitting in school and my teacher came in and told us the news, crying hysterically."

"Basically all my other school choices were east coast schools. A lot of my friends and their parents are from New York, so when it happened it was huge for me. We were afraid of another attack, so my mom wanted me to apply to a school away from the east coast and big cities. I first considered Arizona as sort of a joke, but then visited and loved the campus."

Max Donahue
Business management freshman

"I was actually asleep and I had a friend call me, wake me up and tell me to turn on the news and I couldn't believe it. I called everyone I knew and I was just flabbergasted for the rest of the day."

"Not too much actually. I definitely do feel a lot more pride for our nation."

Christine Fultyn
MIS and marketing junior

"I came early for my job and everybody was just shocked, so was I. I actually didn't get to see the videos until the next day."

"For me it was more of just shock and then of course I had to be extra careful. You just keep thinking about why people do this and why do things like this happen. That's the most saddening part."

Anubhav Swami
electrical engineering graduate student and Research Assistant from India

"I was in Sweden, I just came here three weeks ago."

"It affected me mentally and economically. It's both of them. Mentally it helped me get more insight and better perspective about terrorism, how bad it can be."

Bjšrn Hammarskjšld
Business freshman

"I was asleep and then I woke up. My mom was sitting there crying. She was listening to news."

"My dad's a Marine, there was a chance he was going to get sent out there and so for a while I was pretty upset about it. But he didn't have to go."

Laura Schumacher
astro physics freshman

"I was at Social Sciences, 5:30 in the morning sitting there in a lecture with other Air Force ROTC cadets."

"It affected me tremendously only because I'm in Air Force ROTC program here at the UA. So it hit pretty hard when they told us we couldn't get our uniforms, I realized it was a big deal."

Stephanie Joyce
communication and media arts sophomore and member of the Air Force ROTC

"I was in my room, getting ready for school and I heard it on the radio that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon and I said, Îthe Pentagon?' like you know, that's a joke."

"Well, I think that it kind of allowed me to think more about my future here in America and my future as just a person and developing and knowing more about cultures and religious and more about society and the world. Before I was kind of immune to this, America is a country where something like that could never happen."

Erin O'Brien
undeclared freshman

"I was with my little brother watching TV. I thought it was a movie · I think 9/11 shook more than just Americans. It made the whole world realize that you can never underestimate the power of evil, no matter how many security cameras you put up."

"In Kuwait there was a war, but it never was a terrorist attack. It makes me appreciate life more, because you never know when a close member, or even you, might end up dead. You just want to leave something behind and tell all the ones you love that you love them. And it's sad, because the people on the plane never got that chance."

Khadeejah al-Sayegh
molecular and cellular biology freshman from Kuwait

"I was just coming to work, just got to work. I heard it on the radio. I ride my bike to work and when I got to my truck I heard."

"I'm maybe more aware. You know, you always realize stuff like this can go down. I spent 25 years as a fireman."

Chuck Hammel
Parking and Transportation Services bike safety officer