I was in college in Moscow, ID and in the Pacific Time Zone. For absolutely no reason I was then or am now aware of, I woke up at 6:40 am and turned on the TV. This was just after the second tower had been hit, and the reporters were concerned that a helicopter in the background was a third plane about to hit.

I was convinced that this was a scene from a movie, a “War of the Worlds” fake broadcast … for about 10 seconds. Then I found the attacks were on every channel.

I had class at 10 am (1 pm EST) and attended that. No one spoke. The professor didn’t show up, so we voted to drop the “ten minute rule” to two minutes and all went our separate ways. I went to my friends’ fraternity house and watched the TV there with about 40 other guys most of the day.

A few days later (less than a week) I was sitting in my Accounting classroom with no windows and one exit door when we suddenly heard a jet engine directly over our heads — but no boom. Everyone sat there stunned for about five minutes, and the professor eventually said, “We’re not going to get any learning done today, go home.”

I found out later that the Air Force ROTC had a previously scheduled military fly-by that they decided to proceed with even after the attacks, but without informing any of the student body. No one was very happy with that decision.

What were you doing 9/11/01?