From 9/11 to May 1...

We all remember exactly where we were that clear September morning of our senior year. Brian Woll and the Class of 2002 Memorial Scholarship Fund officers reflect on what 9/11 meant to the Class of 2002, and what the death of Osama Bin Laden means to the world.

I am sure by now you all have heard about the successful operation against terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. I know we all remember so clearly that September morning of our senior year: The quiet hallway, warm embraces and subsequent collective spirit we had as the first class to graduate high school and enter that new world. Perhaps for the first time in each of our lives, we felt a sense of real patriotism, a feeling of responsibility to make the world good again. I remember talking to some of you in those first few days about wanting to make it safer for our younger brothers and sisters, and eventually for our own children.

Most immediately, we wanted to make it safer for the shell-shocked residents of New York. Just two blocks from Ground Zero, the High School of Economics and Finance (HSEF) was 750 students strong on that warm September morning. It was only the fifth day of classes that year for students when the school building shook at 8:46 a.m. and the world forever changed. The Twin Towers were ablaze. Debris from the falling towers forced an evacuation of their school; they did not return until February 2002. In the weeks and months after 9/11 our class organized a city-wide fundraiser called Challenge 2002 in which all the St. Louis metro area high schools pledged to raise $2,002 to benefit HSEF. Ami Holthouse, our class president, reminded me that it was not a time for contests between area high schools but a time to come together with one shared goal: To help out a sister school in New York City. LHS raised more than $2,002 to support this NYC high school. At that spring’s Academic Pep Assembly, HSEF’s senior class president and vice president flew in and we presented a check to them. A true testament to the giving nature of our class.

Life has moved on in these nearly 10 years, albeit with some trepidation. The world is still an uncertain, dangerous place for many. But with the U.S. operation confirmed just last night, I see a renewal of the spirit we first displayed in those days after 9/11 as I speak with friends and see notes posted to Facebook by many of you. We can all be encouraged by what has happened here.

It's difficult to celebrate any man's death, that is for certain. I have many reservations about our country's presence in the fight against global terrorism and military action abroad. But just as the attack on the World Trade Center was a rallying cry for many of the world's terrorist organizations, including al Qaeda, the elimination of bin Laden can be seen as a determined step towards a safer, more peaceful, more hopeful world. There are so many questions still to be answered, so much more work to be done. We are all responsible for it. Be in touch with your loved ones today and celebrate not the death of a man, but the rebirth of a collective spirit. We celebrate not as a singular nation, but as a world of people looking at a future that shines a bit brighter.

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