Tuesday, September 11, 2001

America is much more than a collection of buildings
By Morgan Landry
Skiff Staff

I woke up to the news of the World Trade Center burning.

I am shocked and horrified. How can someone claiming to be an objective optimist handle this, when the country she loves seems to be falling apart before her eyes?

It is time to remind myself of what I know in order to stay sane.

First of all, optimism and objectivity are acts of will.

Believe it or not, I was not born optimistic and objective. I chose to stay that way through my own choice, even when it seems impossible.

Second, as human beings, we have a choice in how to react in tragedy. We can shut ourselves in or reach out. We can hide in fear or step out in courage.

True courage, after all, is being afraid yet doing what you have to do anyway. In case you can’t tell, I am very afraid right now.

Finally, I believe that as a nation, we can get through this crisis if we stand strong together.

This is a tragedy. As I type this editorial, the World Trade Center, the Washington Mall, and the Pentagon are all in flames. The White House has been evacuated, and no one seems to know what is going on.

How can someone be objectively optimistic in a time like this?

I still have reason for my optimism. The United States is more than the most powerful nation in the world. It is more than the nation in the world with the most freedom.

It is the first country whose goals for every person are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is a country where anyone, no matter who they are, can make dreams come true. People fleeing oppression in other parts of the world flock to the United States because of our immense freedoms.

Americans can freely say what they believe. Americans can choose what religion they practice. Americans have freedom of the press. Americans can be whatever they want to be.

Since Americans are free to reach their highest potential, it is little wonder the most free nation in the world happens to be the most powerful. These are a few of the many reasons why I am optimistic we can get through this.

Whoever planned this must have thought America could be destroyed if its buildings were destroyed. However, America is more than a nation of buildings. America truly is more than the sum of its parts.

As long as freedom exists in the world, as long as the idea of individual rights exists, America will exist.

Those that have struck at our buildings have only strengthened our hearts.

Americans will come together as they have in other tragedies, and they will come together in tragedies to come.

Our nation will move on.

Morgan Landry is a junior computer information science and business major from Fort Worth. She can be contacted at (m.e.landry@student.tcu.edu).