By Melanie J. Knox, Opinion Editor

Only two years have passed since the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. The fiery images of planes crashing into towers, the Pentagon and a field will not soon be erased from the memories of many students.

“I remember everything,” said Kristi Lippert, sophomore psychology major from Cincinnati. “We were all in shock, and everything stopped that day. It was awful.” Lippert’s classes continued, but all they did was watch the news.

Jacque Gipson, sophomore political science major from Jasper, remembers confusion.

“I didn’t understand what was going on, and I was scared,” she said. “It was a very sad time.”

Students said they also learned that freedom as Americans didn’t make the country immune to attack and that citizens shouldn’t take freedom for granted.

“I realized that people don’t like Americans,” Lippert said. “We have our freedoms, but we are not immune to the rest of the world. It still affects us.”

Gipson agreed.

“We’re not untouchable,” she said. “This was the first time I experienced war to any degree, and I realized that we can be hurt, and we must rely on our country.”

Students will consider the nation as well Thursday, remembering what happened after the attacks.

“When I think about Sept. 11, I think about unity and strength,” said Bo Sparks, freshman undeclared major from Capitan, N.M. “It changed the way I think as far as taking freedoms for granted.”

“I remember the terrorism, but ‘United We Stand’ also comes to mind,” Gipson said. “‘If we stand together as a nation, we can make it through.'”