There are certain moments in life that are so raw, they shake a person to the core. For better or worse, one moment can change a person’s desired career path, sense of security or outlook on life. These moments aren’t uncommon. Rarely, however, does an entire nation share that moment together.

“It dictated what I’ve done in the Navy in the past 10 years and what I continue to do month after month,” Ashland University senior and entrepreneurship major Marco Cuevas said. Cuevas was and still is an Intelligence Specialist, first class, in the United States Navy.

As Sunday, Sept. 11 approaches, many students reflect on the 10-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks that left them shaken that day in 2001.

“It’s amazing that it’s been 10 years,” sophomore Ryan Sampson said. “It feels like it was yesterday.”

Sampson hails from Long Island, New York and remembers sitting in his fourth grade classroom when the principal came over the intercom and told the school that a tragedy had happened.

“We had no idea what was going on and he said, you know, that we were all going home early because we were all in danger,” Sampson said. “…We had no idea, we were only kids.”

Sampson remembers becoming alarmed as the bus dropped him off at his house and he saw his father’s car in the driveway. His dad was never home before him.

“He told me that the twin towers had been attacked and that they had collapsed,” Sampson said. “We had the TV on and they kept showing replays over and over of the twin towers going down and it was really sad. My first thoughts when I saw that…I asked [my dad], where’s Mom?”

Sampson’s mother worked approximately 10 blocks from the World Trade Centers and was unable to be reached for a long period of time.

“My mom finally got in touch with us and told us she was alright,” Sampson said. “She had watched across the bridge, everyone walking and running away. She had ash on her and she was crying. She had friends who worked in the buildings.”

Sophomore Alex Sheil remembers hearing the news about the twin towers over the radio in his family’s car in his home country, Australia.

“It was fairly big, from what I remember…television, radio,” Sheil said. “With Australia being really close to the U.S. … it kind of hit everyone in the same sort of way. If it happened to them, it can happen to us.”

Two fourth graders in different countries had the same realization that day.

“I didn’t know what to make of it,” Sampson said. “It came as a shock…never thought anything like that could happen.

“One of my best friends growing up, his father was a firefighter in New York City and he was in the second tower when it went down…he didn’t make it,” Sampson said.

One of Sampson’s other friends had an uncle who worked as an air traffic controller and he watched as the planes flew over his friends’ and families’ homes.

“The Pentagon got attacked too,” Sampson said. “It was a war zone, it really was.”

Another firefighter Sampson knew managed to get out of the towers before either one fell. He was there for the cleanup and Sampson can remember him telling stories of the wreckage and tragedy he saw.

“He was there pulling out body parts, just fingers or legs or arms, just terrible,” Sampson said. “That’s all they could find of these people – I don’t know how you could bury your loved ones: father, son, daughter, mother, brother, sister…I don’t know how you could bury something small, a helmet, a piece of cloth…I mean they couldn’t find these people. They are still buried down there. It’s probably the most terrifying moment for me, for America, for anyone who was around to see that.”

Sampson doesn’t like watching video of the 9/11 attacks. He knew people dying in those buildings.

Dave McLaughlin, director of safety services, remembers opening up the student center auditorium so that both Ashland University faculty and students could watch the news coverage, frozen by the events unfolding in front of them.

“[These events] took our own little Ashland island and globalized it,” McLaughlin said.

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Ashland University, like others all across the nation, took steps to ensure the safety of students and campus. McLaughlin described a heightened awareness for security around campus and more due diligence was taken to ensure the safety of the campus community, including the development of a more formalized campus emergency plan.

There was also concern for attempted retaliation against international students but the only related reported incident was a verbal exchange between an international student and an American student. For the most part, students were trying to work through the tragedy together.

“Many people came to the chapel to pray and FCA that night was full of people praying for the country,” Campus Minister Joseph Maggelet said.

“Everywhere you went on campus, people were trying to find out more info,” Maggelet said. “I remember a lot of praying and uncertainty. The biggest hurdle was trying to figure out when the last attack would come, it came in stages and no one thought it would end when it did.”

The aftereffects of the attacks left long lasting impressions.

“A lot of people didn’t show up to school for weeks. They were shocked or their parents didn’t want them going out,” Sampson said. “I’ll be honest, I had never seen such a high patriotism, a high love for [the] nation, flags everywhere, people putting candles out in front of their houses.”

Junior Megan Lilly also remembers how America responded after the catastrophe.

“I remember being amazed by the flags and patriotism of the country. It brought the nation together when we needed it most,” Lilly said.

Senior Emily Geib believes that a lot of people felt the same way and joined together to show a united front.

“I feel like we became a stronger unit for a few years, but we kind of lost that feeling after a while,” Geib said. “Everyone’s lives return to normalcy eventually, even if it’s years later.”

Unlike Sampson, Geib was not close to the attacks physically or mentally, but she is aware of the emotional toll it took.

“The magnitude of the attack is still difficult to comprehend because it never directly impacted me or my family. I still get emotional when I watch documentaries and interviews of people who were directly impacted,” Geib said.

Sampson is proud of the sheer heroism that was displayed by many Americans.

“People have to realize that there were 343 firefighters that were lost in that tragedy but there were thousands and thousands of people who were saved by the firefighters and policemen that went in there not knowing that those towers were going to come down…and they saved a lot of people,” Sampson said. “That number could have been so much more, if those men didn’t do their job.”

It’s something to remember on the 10-year anniversary of that horrific day; remember those lost, remember those saved and remember those heroes who made it possible for a nation to band together and find a silver lining around two dark clouds.