09/11/2026
25 years ago today, I was 15 years old and a sophomore at Franklin County High School in Brookville, Indiana.
I remember riding the bus to school that morning listening to B105. They were talking about how September 11 was an anniversary connected to 9-1-1, the telephone emergency response system — the number you call for police, fire or an ambulance. I remember thinking, “Oh, that’s cool. I never would’ve thought of that.” Just a random little fun fact I heard on the radio during what felt like a completely normal morning.
Little did we know that before that day was over, 9/11 would forever mean something entirely different.
We got to school and were getting ready to take standardized state testing when everything changed.
We were dismissed back to our homerooms and told to take all of our belongings out of our lockers and put them in the hallways. We were locked in our homerooms, watching the news on TV as everything unfolded.
I can still remember the confusion, fear, sadness and so many emotions in that room. We were just kids trying to understand something that none of us could really comprehend.
Eventually, later that afternoon, we were allowed to leave as our parents came to pick us up.
It’s hard to believe 25 years have passed, because certain pieces of that day are still so vivid. I was only 15, but I will never forget where I was when the world stopped turning.
September 11, 2001. 🇺🇸 Never forget.
Where were you when you heard the news?
