As a high school senior in 2019, I wasn’t alive for the attacks on September 11, 2001. Neither were my classmates and friends. We are the first generation post-9/11, only knowing the world where security is high and Islamophobia runs rampant. This is not the world of our parents, it is not the world of our older friends, and it is not the world of our teachers. So when we hear of how momentous and life-changing these attacks were for the older people in our lives, it is difficult to stop and think about what that really means. This is simply because we can’t imagine a world where we don’t take off our shoes before going through security or where entering back into the U.S. after leaving the country doesn’t take at least an hour. As people my age and younger look back at 9/11 through our unique lens, we must try to sympathize with a nation that doesn’t understand that we don’t understand. That is the challenge I have faced along with my classmates and friends.
As I have reflected recently over 9/11 and what it has meant to my life, I have been troubled by my lack of feeling towards the subject. Sure, I can think about all of the people that lost their lives and the many more that were close to one of these victims, but it is hard for me to truly sympathize with this event that I feel so separated from. This fact breaks my heart. I don’t want to be “one of the kids” that doesn’t understand what it was like for the country to be attacked in this way. It almost feels un-American to not share in the combined pain. Perhaps to make up for this, I dedicated a research project in English class towards learning more about the attacks. This gave me the historical knowledge about what happened and the supposed reasons behind the events, but didn’t bring me any closer to understanding the pain.
I’ve concluded that nothing will make me completely understand how older generations feel, but I still am interested in listening to adults tell their stories. The changes across all aspects of our lives fascinates me, and I enjoy hearing what the world looked like when my parents were kids. My generation will grow up without knowing anything different than the present. But this certainly doesn’t mean we can’t learn.