After a year of living with the tragedy of 9/11, University of Wisconsin students continue to identify the day’s effects on their attitudes and personal lives. On the one-year anniversary of the attacks, students contemplated changed behavior and focused on relationships.
Although the terrorist attacks inspired a surge of patriotism throughout the country, UW junior Lucia Wargula said the real aftereffects of the tragedy could be seen in small, everyday actions.
“Before, I didn’t often consider how my actions affected other people,” Wargula said. “Today I find myself simply holding the elevator for people — I wouldn’t have done something like that a year ago.”
Wargula said for her the terrorist attacks drove home the misery caused by the actions of others and made her reevaluate her own behavior.
Freshman Adam Robinson agreed that his everyday actions have been altered by the national tragedy.
“Generally, I’m an aggressive walker when I’m headed for class,” Robinson said. “Today I wanted to just let people go ahead of me.”
The most immediate and intimate effects of 9/11 were the changes in the way people within a community treated one another, according to Robinson.
“I remember how everyone softened up a little after 9/11,” Robinson said. “The trivial negativities of our lives were put into perspective.”
Robinson said he hoped Wednesday’s commemoration events would help people remember the sense of closeness and community so it would not fade.
For Brad Niebling, a graduate student of psychology, Wednesday’s events served to highlight the positive effects of a negative situation. He said the blood drive was one example of the outreach following the tragedy.
“It’s touching to see how the community continues to pull together to achieve good things,” Niebling said.
Associated Students of Madison chair Bryan Gadow, who spoke at Wednesday morning’s commemoration service, said community was the most important aspect of the tragedy.
“For me, it wasn’t the event itself that was so moving,” Gadow said. “What affected me was the community effort.”
The events surrounding the terrorist attacks showed the two poles of human behavior, according to Niebling. He said this helped him to better understand his own beliefs about human nature.
“In a way, 9/11 was the ultimate dichotomy,” Niebling said. “On one hand, there was so much hatred and disregard for human life, and on the other so much compassion and high regard for human life. It really opened my eyes.”
Students also mentioned the media as playing either an integral or interfering role in people’s perceptions of Sept. 11.
“If I lost someone on 9/11, I wouldn’t want to be interviewed every five minutes,” UW senior Amery Harrington said. “The media took things too far by doing stories that aren’t anyone’s business.”
Niebling agreed the media hype was excessive.
“There’s a lot of media fanfare,” Niebling said. “[9/11] has been covered to a greater extent than necessary.”
For other students, the media has helped them grasp the impact of last year’s terrorist attacks.
“My roommate and I bawled last night while we watched the TV program about 9/11,” Wargula said. “I thought the coverage was very touching.”
Robinson, who didn’t even remember the anniversary when he woke up Wednesday morning, said the media brought home the impact for him when he watched a broadcast in the afternoon.
“Suddenly I felt the sadness coming back,” Robinson said. “I felt again the gravity of what happened.”
