7 years later...

Well it has been about 7 years since I woke up to a message on my computer in my high school dorm room that called an emergency meeting of my school's peer counselors.  That day I spent in the Appleby College dining hall watching CNN almost non-stop.  What seemed like a mere work of fiction rather than a world changing event made my first last day of high school seem like one of the longest in my 17 years on Earth.  7 years on things seem to be almost back to normal.  Flying seems like a completely different experience, security level colors change like leaves and there is still a war in Iraq.  Here at Rollins, we inaugurated our 9/11 memorial which has something very unique to it: touchstones that are pieces of the World Trade Center, Pentagon and crash site of United Flight 93.  These were all obtained by Rollins graduates who generously donated these pieces so we can have this one of a kind monument.  I hope everyone today takes a moment to remember where they were 7 years ago.  I know although so many great things have happened in my life since 2001, it is still a day that I will never forget...