I am a news writer.

I tell the stories of people. I talk, I listen and I have opinions that cannot be expressed through my position. It doesn’t allow me one. On Tuesday, however, the second day that will live in infamy in the American minds and hearts forever, I had a strong one.

When I walked through the Campus Center after my second class had let out, I headed towards work. My first thoughts and instincts were to call my family and to go to a computer and write. I pushed my way through a sea of red-rimmed eyes and horrified faces. It just didn’t seem real. When I first found out about the incident in class it was downplayed. Something had happened in New York. Students in my class said an airplane or a helicopter had struck a building. It was almost made out to sound like an accident; no one knew anything yet, no one had seen the vivid, shockingly clear photos of the World Trade Center collapsing into a cloud of smoke.

When I reached the miles of people standing in line at the pay phone I began to understand: this was the real thing. There have always been moments when I have hated being a journalist and at the same time realized that this is why I do what I do.

How people respond to a tragedy is sometimes as telling as the catastrophe itself. New York City, a place falsely famous for its angry and unfriendly people, came out to take care of each other. Those physically unscathed by the tragedy lined up for hours in order to give blood to those in need. College students ran up to rescue workers in the streets asking if they could volunteer while people all over the country wished that they could do more. Especially telling was the numbers of people who continued to work and allow the United States to go on functioning.

Peter Jennings, perhaps the most famous broadcast journalist in the country, never left his ABC post, providing coverage to America for nearly two days following the calamity. His familiar face helped many to digest the tragic news, despite the fact that at times he was unsure if his wife, who was in New York City at the time of the incident, was alive or dead.

The firefighters, police and medical personnel responding in the hundreds volunteered their time and effort making themselves yet another set of heroes in the face of tragedy. Over 260 firefighters and police officers in New York City are missing and feared dead, many of whom perished not running away from the from the Trade Center, but instead running inside in order to save civilians. One firefighter refusing to take a break asked instead that the press contact his wife to tell her that he was still alive.

I can imagine that the President didn’t really want to do his job two days ago either. Most likely he just wanted to see his wife and daughters and make sure that his family was all right. Unfortunately he did not have that luxury; instead, he was faced with the daunting task of making sense out of a tragedy and providing his country with some peace.

There were other heroes involved in this tragedy. Every person who offered someone else some comfort, a hug or even just a glass of water, those are the people that helped to alleviate suffering. Every person who donated blood or time or even money to the cause of helping others saved a life in some way. Everyone did what they knew how to do to make the situation better.

I did what I know how to do: write about the tragedy and try to get the information out to other people. I have to admit that I spent most of my night huddled near a television set watching a constant loop of video footage. The tiny figures throwing themselves out of windows to escape burning to death. Hearing the newscasters explain that others had stayed inside on cell phones, making their final farewells to family members, made me wonder how one would cope with a phone call like that. I clung to little bits and pieces of information on CNN.com, trying my best to comprehend what was going on and argued with friends about the best course of action for the US to take. I tried to make sense of something that seemed senseless.

I was unreasonable. I called my mother despite the fact that I knew that my entire family was living in Massachusetts. When I got the calming voice of my father on the answering machine I was unable to say a word. What was I going to say? I was so thankful that they were still there, alive and well, and at the same time so sorry for the people who could no longer call their parents.

In times of tragedy everyone gets together and does what they can to make things better by drawing on their special skills to do it. Firefighters and police officers saved lives, journalists reported, politicians tried to give us a sense of peace and the rest of us simply tried to make each other feel better.

Melissa Hammel is a Collegian staff member.

Photo bendee: Melissa Hammel

Pull quote: “How people respond to a tragedy is sometimes as telling as the catastrophe itself. New York City, a place falsely famous for its angry and unfriendly people, came out to take care of each other.”