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Everyone has their where were you on 9/11 story so here is mine.

I was in the first semester of my last year of undergrad. I didn't have classes that day so I offered to take a friend to the doctor who had back surgery a few months earlier. She was going in to get clearance to work and to drive again.

I remember sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office and hearing the doctor's assistants mumbling something about a plane crashing into a tower. I thought maybe an ultra light or some other small plane had crashed into something local and didn't think much of it.

My friend finished up with the doctor and said to me sounds like there will be interesting front page news tomorrow a plane crashed in to the World Trade Center. At this point in time neither of us realized the severity of the situation.

I dropped her back at her house drove back to my apartment and decided to take a nap. I had been up late the night before doing night production of the online edition of the student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator.

About 15 minutes later my friend called me in tears and said you need to see this. So I got up and immediately headed to the internet as many did since you really couldn't load any of the major news sites.

At this point I thought maybe I should go into the paper since they need me but I didn't want to hang up on my friend. I got a call waiting beep on the other line and it was the Editor asking me to come in and help out.

I drove down to the Alligator and started helping put photo galleries online and whatever other content we could get off of the Associated Press wire. I didn't see any of the video until after I got to the Alligator.

I don’t remember how long I was at the Alligator since time went very quickly after that.

It was exciting to be part of the frenzy of getting information out. The only thing I can compare it to since would be working with a paper in Louisiana post Katrina. It is sort of a twisted adrenaline rush that journalism types get out of major events like that.

They canceled classes on campus as I am sure many major universities did. They also canceled the Florida vs. Tennessee game that was set for that weekend. There was a report that someone might try to blow up the nuclear reactor that across the street from the stadium.

I remember at some point in time my mom called and left a message to make sure I was ok and she never does that.

My brother hadn't decided what he wanted to do with his life after college and the events of 9/11 steered him toward the Marines. Currently he is a second lieutenant in the Marines and is graduating from the second part of basic school in October. We don't know where he will be six months from now.