How 9/11 Changed a 13-Year-Old Girl in Harlem

As a middle school student on Sept. 11, 2001, I didn’t realize how much the terror attacks would affect me and my family.

Follow our live coverage of the 20th anniversary of 9/11. It was the third day of eighth grade and I still had first-day-of-school jitters. I’d attended the same school the previous year, but I was graduating this year, which meant everything was different. While I was returning to my middle school in Harlem, my older sister was starting her freshman year of high school. Curious and already looking forward to my next grade, I asked her a million questions. What was high school like? Did the school have lockers like in the movies and sitcoms on the Disney Channel? Who were the mean girls? What did everyone wear?