Events I remember(Olen Berthold)

1. I vividly remember waking up that morning in february, knowing that one of the things I was passionate about, the space shuttle was going to re enter the earths atmosphere that day. I grabbed my bowl of cereal, sat on the couch, and intensely watched and listened to the reporters voice on channel 5, they announced that there would be radio silence for a few minutes upon reentry and then the crew would call in to confirm safety. But after 10 minutes passed, then 15, then 20, it became clear to me that there was a problem. I watched intensely for the rest of the day until the news showed on last horrifying image of a fireballing shuttle in 3 pieces, falling swiftly to earth, and on board I knew were 7 brave souls who had just given their life for exploration. I vividly remember that day.

2. Another even I vividly remember as if in a daze were the 9/11 hijackings and the destruction of the world trade center. I remember walking into my third grade classroom, and seeing that my teachers, and the entire class were gathered around the small hanging TV and wondering how such a terrible accident could happen. about 30 minutes later, my class of 3rd grade watched live as a second united 727 smashed into the  second tower, and then my teacher turned the TV off. all of us were so confused, and later that day my mom and dad told me it was ok and that nothing like that would happen to me. It would take two days for the magnitude of what happened to sink in.

3. Just last year, most of the polish defense department, including the polish first lady departed on a russian aircraft bound for a conference in russia. It crashed shortly thereafter and killed the entire crew and pasengers (the polish government). This event clearly stuck in my head for no other reason than that it was an international tragedy, and it sparked the anylytical part of me that so often comes out to question all things. and walking into the article I read with a sort of questioning bias aginst russias diplomatic intentions.