I just watched a documentary on the 9/11 attack on Discovery Channel. That inspired me to write another blog post. After watching it, I feel fortunate that my country do not have to face a tragedy like this and secondly, I feel so fortunate to be still alive and to have my close ones with me.
I was only 9 when this tragic event hit the United States. I remember sitting in front of the TV and there was a telecast of the collapsing of the World Trade Center on the local morning news. Who knew that about a decade later I would stand in front of where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood and see the site with my very own eyes! Wow.
Come to think of it, the 9/11 attack did affect my life. If the 9/11 attack did not happen, the Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program might not come about and I won’t be able to do all the amazing things that I got to do earlier this year and befriend the many amazing people that I met while I was on the foreign exchange program. Some 3000 people died from the attack but I feel that, because of them—somehow—I got to live. I lived my American Dream.
I had the rare opportunity to be exposed to the lives of ordinary Americans from all walks of life; to be able to experience the struggles of the lower/middle class-income (I know of a woman whose husband is disabled. She is a paralegal by day and she cleans after work to earn extra wages); the luxury life of the rich (lived with a couple who owns a freaking huge house the size of a mansion in St. Charles, Missouri); to know of brave men and women whose everyday lives are at stake protecting their country they love so dearly; to be able to travel to different places around America; to be able to touch and inspire the people I meet and have them touch and inspire me.
I am not sure if there will be anyone reading this but thank you, AFS. Thank you, YES. Thank you, U.S. State of Department. Thank you, USA. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My gratitude goes beyond words can express.
R.I.P to those who died from the attacks.
