It was around 7 a.m. when I awoke to the absence of the familiar sounds of trickling coffee and my mom packing four crinkly paper bags with lunches for me and my older siblings. Instead, my alarm clock had morphed into news anchors spewing out somber updates of history in the making, and my mom’s shocked gasps as she watched it unfold over and over again.

On Sept. 11, 2001 America was terrorized. America was stripped of its glamour, of gleaming buildings and sprawling streets paved with productivity, ambition and success. A nation of envy, by most standards, was left exposed as a result of four strategized and ruthless assaults that left not just buildings, but families, in ruins. What  Al Quaeda may not have predicted was the response that our proud nation would have in the aftermath as America was put to the test. 

On that day in 2001, America was victimized and rose above it. America. As in most high pressure situations, we had two options -- to shatter or to unify. American officials, rescue workers, soldiers and citizens all faced a fork in the road with paths that were equally demanding, but with severely different destinations. 

The 9/11 attacks pushed our nation to embrace the defining action upon which it is named -- united. Amidst the diversity and radically differing viewpoints among the citizens of this country, all differences were forgotten in the midst of a greater and more severe task. America took a path that lead above the pain and suffering. It was a path that did not allow backing down, wallowing in grief, or stopping to let the terror sink in. America was terrorized, but chose not to let that terror debilitate our nation of prosperity. America rose above the ashes.               

September 11 marks a day in history that elicits different emotions and memories for every American. We must not forget the tragedy that took place, nor those who were lost and who gave up their lives to fight for our great nation and for people they had never met. These people are our servicemen. These people are our neighbors. These people are the faces of America. We are a nation that faces adversity and pushes through it with abandon. America is united.