9/11 Remembered: Tara Pidgeon

Joe: So I know you’re a native New Yorker, where in New York do you come from?

Tara: I’m from Rensselaer, NY which is right across the Hudson River from Albany. It’s about 3 hours driving from New York City or 90 minutes by train.

Joe: Where were you on the morning of September 11th 2001?

Tara: On the morning of September 11, 2001 I was in my student apartment in Lake Buena Vista, Florida where I was completing a college internship at Walt Disney World. I was supposed to work that evening at the Magic Kingdom, but the parks shut down that day after the attacks.

Joe: When were you made aware that the World Trade Center had been hit?

Tara: I was watching the morning news while eating breakfast when I saw the footage of the first plane striking the tower. At that point, my roommates and I were shocked at the stupidity of a pilot driving straight into the World Trade Center. We didn’t know it was an attack yet. We were glued to the live news broadcast and watched in real time as the second plane came in.

Joe: What was your initial reaction when you realize it was a coordinated attack?

Tara: As soon as we saw the second plane approaching the towers, it was like being punched in the gut. One of my roommate’s sisters worked at the World Trade Center and as the realization that we were under attack sunk in, she began panicking. We didn’t have cell phones, but her older sister did. She tried calling and calling her sister, but there was no service. It was surreal. It felt like watching a movie while simultaneously feeling the real-life horror.

Joe: Were any of your family or friends present at the attack sites?

Tara: None of my family was impacted, but I had friends in college in NYC. The father of my boyfriend at the time was supposed to be flying that morning, but we didn’t know what his flight number was. Because of our lack of cell phones and the spotty service of those we knew with cell phones, it was extremely somber. We didn’t know who was there and who was missing for several days

Joe:As a native New Yorker how did you feel in the immediate aftermath of the attacks?

Tara: I definitely took the attacks a lot more personally than people my age who I’ve met from out of state. My best friend dropped out of college the next week and enlisted. Many of my high school friends who were enlisted already were deployed to the Middle East. It was a very scary time, but there was a clear sense of Patriotism in the country uniting people on both sides of the political spectrum

Joe: Do you think New York has changed a lot since the attacks, if so how?

Tara: The landscape of NYC has changed since the attacks, but in the 24 years since 9/11, I don’t think the overall attitude of NY’s people has changed.

Joe: How do you handle talking about 9/11 as a teacher?

Tara: The way I talked about 9/11 has changed dramatically over the years. When I first began teaching, all of my students remembered where they were when the attack happened. The students now who weren’t even born are far more removed emotionally from the attacks and they don’t engage as much.

Joe: Do you commemorate 9/11 in your personal life?

Tara: I always try to participate in a Memorial Stair Climb. If I can’t make it, I try to do the equivalent on a stairclimber at the gym.

Joe: How do your students regard your personal history with 9/11?

Tara: My students were always curious about my experience as a native New Yorker, and now they are curious about my experience as “someone who was alive when it happened.” At this point, I think they mostly ask me about it because they think they are getting us off track from our classwork, but in reality, I think life lessons are extremely important

Joe: What do you think should be done to make sure the history of what happened on 9/11 is preserved?

Tara: I honestly wish it were a National Day of Observance and we would get the day off from work/school.

Dedicated to my friend and mentor Tara Pidgeon and all the New Yorkers who were effected by September 11th 2001.