contents - Gallatin School of Individualized Study - New York ...

Rong Lan HuangRONg LAN HUANG Living in NYC32Remembering 9/119/11 is one of the pages of my life. Whenever I turn to this page, two fierybuildings with dark smoke are gradually melting down in front of my eyes.I always feel so much grief when I remember this terrible day.I was following people going downstairs as we heard a big sound and sawsmoke in the hallway. At the beginning, I didn’t feel scared because I didn’t knowwhat was happening. We helped each other slowly down from the 29th floor andit wasn’t until we were on the 14th floor that I felt something really serious washappening. As we continued down the stairs, a group of firemen was going up.Each one looked dignified with a heavy helmet and a fire axe in his hands. Theseheroes kept going up, but they never had any chance to go down. When I reachedthe fourth floor, the water was leaking and dropping down on us. We quickly ran tothe lobby, and when we got there, we saw the large marble walls and ceilings thathad fallen down. I walked past the water to get out of the building as fast as I could.I stood across the street to see our building in flames, and I wonderedwhen I could go back to work because many bundles of checks had piled up on mydesk. The bank’s messenger had run away first. I left Manhattan without knowingthat this was the last time I would gaze at the twin towers.Rong Lan Huang, a native of China, is a tai chi enthusiast and used to practicewith a group in the parks of New York. Currently, she studies English with TedGoldsmith and Gary J. Beharry at the Queens Library’s Adult Learning Centerin Flushing. The site’s literacy specialist is Katherine Perry, and the centermanager is Alla Osokina.