“I’m proud of the way everyone came together,” Smith said about his students.

The state competition was roughly about 10 hours. At nationals there will be multiple preliminary rounds and the last round is with the final remaining teams. The closest CdS has ever come to winning Nationals was in 1988 when the school won 3^rd place.

Students in this class had to apply for a spot to get in; only seniors are allowed to be in the class. The class is split into 6 units of four or five people each. Each unit gets a number of questions that they have to study, answer and present at competition. Each unit gets a score and then the scores of all the units are added up for the overall team score.

“It is a great experience, you learn so much,” senior Hirsh Shah said.

Shah is in the Unit 4 group, which was the best performing group for the CdS team in the district competition. Even though the students are split into units they still have to function as a whole team.

“We are a very cohesive class. It’s fun and there is intellectual stimulation. It is a break from classes with students who only care about music and their cell phones. We actually care about the learning,” senior Courtney Naumann said.

To be in the class you have to be hardworking and show interest in the government. The skills you take out of the class are public speaking, composure and how to deal with high pressure. Librarian Justine Centanni and government teachers Lisa Adams and Smith are the sponsors of We the People.

“This year the class has kept the tradition of We the People alive by exemplifying a championship team,” Smith said.

Concussions are provoking headaches and dizziness and causing long-term health risks and in rare cases, death, for young athletes throughout the country. Students are starting young, competing at a high level and not taking nearly enough recovery time to properly heal from injuries. TIME Magazine reports that from 2005 to 2008, 41 percent of athletes who suffered concussions in 100 high schools across the country returned to play too soon, disregarding guidelines set out by the American Academy of Neurology.

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention defines a concussion on it’s website as “type of traumatic brain injury, or TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury), caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Concussions can also occur from a fall or a blow to the body that causes the head and brain to move quickly back and forth.”

At Corona, Certified Athletic Trainer Scott Mason, partnered with St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center, AXON sports and the AIA (Arizona Interscholastic Association) to put programs and tests in place, creating an efficient system for athletes to perform at optimal level by taking proper recovery time and being aware of the risk and symptoms prior to a concussion on the field or court.

One of the first steps taken has been done so by the AIA. The educational course, entitled Brainbook, was developed in coordination with the B.R.A.I.N.S Clinic of the Barrow Neurological Institute and St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center. It is now mandated by the AIA Executive Board to educate student athletes about concussions, and students must present proof of completing the program and passing the test at the end before they are even allowed to try-out for a sport.

Javier Cardenas, a neurologist at St. Joseph’s Hospital and director of the B.R.A.I.N.S. program, explains why creating a program like this was so important and how it was developed.

“The education that’s available currently through the CDC for the coaches is great education. It’s also available for the parents. But there is nothing directed at the athletes. What the states require is you handing a piece of paper to your parent and saying ‘you acknowledge you know the danger of concussion’ and then you sign off and you’re done. As a student, that’s not education,” Cardenas said. “About a year and a half ago, the Arizona Interscholastic Association and the Arizona Cardinals came to my institution because I run a program called B.R.A.I.N.S. They said, ‘Will you go educate all the schools about concussions? We’ll buy you a van and you can go throughout the state.’ But that wasn’t very practical.”

Instead, Cardenas worked with Arizona State University to create the online class that has come to be known as Brainbook.

“It’s interactive, it has a Facebook-like interface, even though there is no social networking, it’s multi-media, we included professional physicians and role models from the Arizona Cardinals and from the (Phoenix) Mercury. And lastly, there are some athlete peers talking about concussions,” he said.

Since the start of the program in August, 80,000 tests have been completed. Cardenas is recognizing great success and receiving positive feed back, as middle schools are beginning to use the tool for health education. Cardenas also says that they are trying to take the program nationally, tailoring it for each area.

“We are seeing a shift, and the intent of Brainbook is to create a culture shift, so that people are not afraid to report, that they are looking out for themselves and their peers, and they take the correct measures to sit out so they don’t suffer the injury or a second injury,” Cardenas said. “I link it to dehydration. When I was a high school athlete, if you ran off the field to get water, you were a sissy. You didn’t need it. But you know, people died. But that culture has shifted in the sports world. So that’s what I hope will happen.”

After team players have completed the Brainbook program, they are recommended to take the baseline concussion test at school, administered by Mason. Having a certified athletic trainer on-site is crucial to assist injured athletes, though TIME reports that only 42 percent of high schools in America have certified athletic trainers, like Mason. The baseline test is not mandatory, but proves to be off to a successful start, with about 300-400 tests conducted thus far on campus. The test has been mostly given to contact sports although it is the ultimate goal for all athletes to be tested.

The test is simple, and can provide excellent information in the event of an injury.

“We are looking at the scores of this baseline data, when an injury does occur, and then we’re comparing both to see the significance of the injury, to see if they have returned to where they were before the concussion,” Mason said.

For junior varsity OL/DL Aaron Simons, the baseline test helped him get back on the field. Having taken it prior to his massive collision in practice, the test was available for him to retake making sure that his transition off the bench would be a safe one.

“I was told that I got absolutely mollywhopped by this kid Josh Riedel,” Simons said. “I got hit in the head and l don’t remember much of it until about halfway to the hospital when my mom was like ‘You all right bud?’ and I was like ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ Then she told me I got a concussion.”

Although suffering from brutal dizziness and headaches, Simons pleaded to be allowed back on the field, and bitterly understood why he wasn’t allowed to suit up again until he was fully recovered.

“That was a big discussion my mom and the doctors had, that I want to get back on the field as fast as possible. The doctors wanted a whole week of symptoms being gone from my body. They were gone in about a week, so I sat out two weeks,” Simons said. “I love the sport, I like playing, and it was a big game, it was DV, so I wanted to play. It’s a violent sport, it’s going to happen where people get hit, but don’t hit with your head. That’s a rule.”

Corona insists a safe return to his or her respective sport is the school’s primary goal, so as not to add to the whopping 16 percent of athletes nationally who suffered concussions and returned to the field the same day, as reported by TIME.

Many have noticed the NFL changing up the technology of their helmets to better support the head and protect the brain. Turns out the pros aren’t the only one’s suiting up a little safer.

Every year, Corona’s football program adds about 20 to 30 Schutt DNA helmets, one of the most advanced helmets on the market right now within the school’s price range. Since obtaining new coach Tom Joseph, Corona has also invested in helmets that are custom fit to the player, doing away with the “one size fits all” type protection.

“Helmets are good for 10 years and we have them tested each year by Sunvalco to make sure there are no cracks or defects,” football coach Tim Kelly said.

Girls soccer is also taking steps to reduce risk in the high-speed contact sport.

Head girls soccer coach Matt Smith said, “My wife has suffered over 25 concussions so its kind of a personal vendetta for me,” explaining why taking these precautions mean a lot to him, while protecting the long-term health of this players.

“We have purchased FULL90 headgear for each of our girls and require them to wear them for all training and games, both on the varsity and JV levels,” Smith said. “There are lots of people who argue about the effectiveness of the headgear, but we have seen less than two concussions per season over the last two years in the program, which is about 40 athletes each year.”

The steps Corona is taking to reduce concussion and brain injury risk is proving its effectiveness on campus with every practice and game, as athletes are performing at a safer level than ever before.

“It’s better to miss one game than the whole season,” the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states on their website.

Simons concludes with the idea the athletes need to be patient in a difficult, sometimes long-term process of recovery.

“I was angry (I couldn’t play), but I understood why,” Simons said. “You don’t mess around when stuff comes to your brain.”

“What they’re doing is trying to identify what sorts of materials, subjects and methods that teens will gravitate toward,” P.E. and health teacher Scott Centanni said.

The program is called the Healthy Teens Program. After working with the Phoenix Union District, Corona del Sol volunteered to have the program taught here.

ASU provides Corona’s health teachers with the new curriculum and teachers execute it while the guests from ASU gather data on the students.

Centanni said he doesn’t see any major differences in this new program from what Corona already teaches in health. The only differences he said were format and delivery style.

The program is completely voluntary; the only students participating are the individuals who volunteered to give the program a whirl.

“ It (the program) was very unprepared,” sophomore Tamia Horton said. “The informational PowerPoints they had were very boring and didn’t keep our attention.”

Corona will not be participating in this program next year because it is just a trial program to gather data.

“The official problem was that the processor blew. It is something that is also difficult to detect, so it took us quite a while before we found this to be the problem,” dance teacher Aaron Gilbert said. “I did not know the processor blew until the show had finished on Friday night. Fortunately, the owner of Aspire was there and went to their gym and loaned us a portable sound system. This was something that could not be foreseen nor could it be repaired quickly. It has yet to be repaired, as a matter of fact. We bypassed the problem so we could have sound for Saturday’s show. We went in at 7a.m. Saturday and the sound expert we hired spent about two –and- a- half hours to accomplish this task.”

While waiting, students, family and parents visited with each other in the auditorium. Also, Richard Cardona and Donivin Duran gave a go of entertaining the crowd with some hip hop moves.

When the show finally began, the audience witnessed a mass of talented dancers showcasing their hard work. In my mind, the talent made up for the problems at the beginning of the show. The audience was very enthusiastic throughout the show and showed massive support for the dancers.

Some of the student choreographers that helped make this show so terrific included Madi Brown, Marisa Koster and Irene Ashu. All of these dancers are members of Corona del Sol’s Dance Company  (CDSDC) and they choreographed at least two dances, as well as co-choreographed the finale, “Run The World”, along with Shelbi Papp.

Each different level danced at least two routines, though CDSDC participated in five: “Heads Will Roll,” “Countdown,” “School Cliques,” “What A Feeling” and “Dock of The Bay” with ranging styles from hip-hop to lyrical.

Overall, I enjoyed the show immensely and would highly encourage any student to go and attend one of Corona del Sol’s upcoming dance shows.

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The pageant is based on a typical Miss America pageant, with a personal interview, talent and onstage question portion. Each girl was judged in each of these categories, showcasing their talents, fashion and smarts.

The beginning of the show began with the personal fact portion. Each contestant walked onstage with a child and struck a pose as the emcee read off facts about the contestant and child.

The next part of the show was the talent portion, where each girl showed off her individual and unique talents. The talents ranged from tumbling to dancing to impersonations, and even comedy.

Formal wear came next, each girl dressed up in a dress and heels and strutted to the front of the stage where once again they struck a pose or gave a sassy face.

After the fashion show each contestant walked on stage where they were asked a question by the emcee and the girls answered in their own unique way. The questions varied from math to personal interests, and the answers given were interesting, to say the least.

At the end of the show four awards were given out. Sophomore Maddie Douglas won the Blockbuster award for most donations collected. Junior Stefani Jarman received the Shining Star award (Miss Congeniality). The talent award was given to freshman Amanda Johnson, who displayed her skill in dance routine. The overall winner of the Miss Corona Pageant was sophomore Jackie Ellis, who showed her strength in each category.

Miss Corona was not just a show; the event also raised approximately $2,500, which was a much bigger success than expected. The money raised is benefiting soldiers overseas during the holiday season. Both Corona Conservatives and Fallen Heroes club worked hard to make the event the success that it was.

“Miss Corona was a very fun and exciting event to attend. The event not only raised money for a good cause, but also gave students a chance to get to know their fellow classmates a whole lot better,” said teacher and co-coordinator Steve Foggatt.  

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“The program is run under the City of Tempe and I coach for Fees Preparatory Middle School,” said Encinas, who coaches girls’ volleyball and flag football.

McKay also coaches volleyball, but for the Tempe YMCA. Her players range from grades four to six.

“They don’t know anything about volleyball, so it’s fun watching them progress,” McKay said.

One would expect it to be difficult to juggle schoolwork and coaching a team at the same time, but both of these students do it with ease.

“It’s only two hours a day, Monday through Thursday, and with a seventh hour release it’s much easier to manage school work,” Encinas said.

Both students love coaching and greatly enjoy the experience.

“I love it. I have a great set of kids,” Encinas said.

Out of the two, Encinas is the only one who makes money from his coaching job. He makes $10 for flag football and $11 for volleyball. Even though McKay only gets volunteer hours from coaching her team, she still takes great pleasure in doing it.

“I like it; I’ve been doing it since March,” McKay said.

Being a coach isn’t all fun and games. Well, actually it is.

“I’m the youngest coach, so I get to mess around with them (the players),” Encinas said.

When you’re a young coach, you’re closer to the age of the kids, and often times this creates a closer bond between coach and player.

“We get to have fun; I can relate to them,” Encinas said.

Now its third hour and the Tylenol you took is wearing off and is being replaced with a headache of even greater intensity, so you decide to visit the nurse. However, the nurse refuses to dole out the medication you were looking forward to and you are forced to endure the headache for the rest of the day.

Unfortunately, this is a common occurrence for students at Corona, yet many still don’t know the medication guidelines on campus.

As stated on the CdS website, “ALL medications, including prescriptions and over-the-counter pain relievers such as Motrin and Tylenol must be stored in the Nurse’s office.”

Furthermore, the medication policy requires that a parent bring the student’s medication to the nurse with a signed permission slip.

“The medication needs to be in the original container and it will be dispensed as prescribed on the bottle,” school nurse Sandra Young said.

Young further explains that, “students bringing drugs on campus is an administrative issue. However, I work with the administration to resolve these problems.”

Consequences from bringing drugs to school can mean expulsion or suspension, but penalties for bringing medication vary greatly.

“It’s situational. If it’s logical for the students to have their own prescription at school, it’s okay,” vice principal Dan Nero said.

“On the other hand, if a student has another kid’s prescription, that’s a different story,” Nero explained.

The medication policy was revised in November of 2009 because it had previously denied the right for the nurse to dispense medication without doctor’s orders.

“It’s a safety issue; this way there is no chance you can get in trouble at school,” Young said.

The improved guidelines are more lenient, which allow for more students to take medication on campus.

However, many students are still bringing their painkillers on campus in order to relieve their headaches in spite of school policy.

“Bringing Tylenol to school makes it easy for me to alleviate my headaches during class without having to call my parents and interrupting class,” an anonymous student said.

A: Because Corona is a fantastic school. I think another reason was I was ready to become a principal, I had,
,been an assistant principal for eight years (at Marcos de Niza.) Corona was my first choice of any one that opened. I applied and, fortunately I got it.

Q: Do you have any big plans for Corona?

A: Oh, I have big plans. My focus is going to be on school improvement and academic achievement. It won’t be solved this year, but we can put a dent in it, and a big dent in it next year.

Q: What is something your students probably don’t know about you?

A: Oh, if they only knew me (laughing.) I think they think, “Oh, he’s pretty serious, he’s pretty dry,” I’m not that. I have a different personality; I think if they could see that they would think I’m pretty funny.

Q: What’s your favorite TV show?

A: I don’t watch TV, I’m into weird programs. People would be surprised I occasionally watch the UFC, or Tour de France and I love college football. You know people would think I’m pretty crazy if I told you this, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say I’m into the Bachelor and Bachelorette.

Q: What do you do in your free time?

A: Before I became a principal, because I have no free time now, I was into landscaping quite a bit. I can build anything from the ground up. I’m a Boise State Bronco fan; that’s how I got into that and that’s where I got my teaching certificate. I’m really into bike racing; I don’t do it, but I love to watch it.

Q: Where did you go to high school?

A: I grew up, well, my wife and I grew up in a little town Ontario, Oregon, right outside of Boise, Idaho. We grew up in the same neighborhood and were born in the same month. We kind of grew up together; at 14 both of our families moved in the same month. And then five years later, our families moved back to the same area, and we met.

Q: How did you get into teaching?

A: When I went to college, people are going to think this is pretty funny, but I was going to be a weatherman. I studied meteorology for a couple of years, and my uncle who is a weatherman talked me out of it because he said, “You know you won’t have a job when you get out of college.” So I took his advice, and I decided to pursue something else, I had taken Spanish all along, so I made it my major and decided to go into the FBI. Didn’t really workout; they only take the top 1 percent of recruits, and I was in the top 2 percent. So I went back for a year to Boise State and got my teaching certificate and became a teacher. Looking back it just all works out for a reason.

On September 11, 2001, the world changed.The United States is a young nation. As such, we are not accustomed to German tanks rolling through our cities, Mongol hordes destroying our villages, or living under the yoke of the Roman Empire. Our bloodiest war, the Civil War was self-inflicted.All wars since have been “over there.”

Our nation’s collective memory had no real reference for the events of September 11, 2001. As the world unraveled around us, we realized that we were at war. This was a day that America will never forget.

At school we were all glued in front of the TV set. We all saw an additional plane come from out of nowhere, which was sent into the beautiful work of art that was once the Trade Centers. A blaze of inferno pouring out from the immense skyscrapers, smoke bucketing from the top ends of each building. We watched as people plummeted from these scorching structures, each looking a thousand feet tall, tumbling to earth where they were killed.

As time went by both of the towers had collapsed. A report goes across our TV screen saying there were more terrorist attacks on the United States. We found out a plane had also gone down into Pentagon, and another heading toward Washington, D.C., to clearly take out our White House. The plane was taken over by its fellow Americans, who had made the terrorists crash the plane in oblivion into a field in Pennsylvania.

The whole day after that moment seems like a distant dream, or a childhood memory barely retained. All I remember that evening is watching broadcast after broadcast of the footage of the planes hitting, each time hoping it would turn out to be a mistake… only to realize now that the only mistake was our not paying attention to the threats outside our nation.

If any silver lining is in this cloud it is this: 9/11 can only make us stronger, bring us closer, and make us realize that we are all one nation united, and as long as we remember 9/11, may we continue the fight against hatred and violence and lift each other up in the spirit of love and friendship. Generations and generations after will remember that it wasn’t only a war on our buildings, our government, our economy, but on our hearts and lives and everything that makes us an American.

English Teacher Robert Corwin

Corwin was a freshman at Mountain Pointe High School in 2001.

Well, I guess I’ll begin with the beginning: I was in the shower around 5:50 in the morning and my mom started banging on the bathroom door. I got out and ran to the front room where my brothers and sister were standing, sleepily staring at the TV. I watched as the North Tower stood, burning. It was odd because the smoke was gray, instead of the familiar black someone would expect to see. Expect to see. How could anyone expect to see something like this? Then I saw a plane fly from the left side of the screen and hit the South Tower; a huge explosion. And then nothing; I felt like everything was completely quiet. I could only hear the questions in my head: How could this happen? Why is this happening to us? As I stood there, my heart began to beat fast. So fast that I needed to sit down.

I asked my mom what had happened. She said that she turned on the Today Show and this is what she found. On the bottom of the screen words were scrolling and it said that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center around 8:47 EST (5:47 a.m. Arizona time). Then, Matt Lauer announced that they believed it was a terrorist attack. The doorbell rang and my cousin, Seth Dhaenens, walked in crying. Seth was a senior at Mountain Pointe and gave me a ride to school every morning. Seth was a star baseball player and my older cousin. I looked up to him in every way and had never seen him cry. My mom went to meet him by the front door and told him that she would call us out of school today. Seth said that we needed to go. I agreed, and got ready.

We left my house and rode to school in silence. We arrived at school and it was quiet. I went to my freshman English teacher’s classroom. He had the news on and we watched. I looked up at the clock and saw that it was 6:59. The South Tower began to collapse. I held my breath and could not blink. I could not believe what I was seeing. All I could think about were all of the firefighters and other people that were in there while it fell. My English teacher, Mr. Nugent, said something under his breath that sent chills down my spine: “We are at war now. Nothing will ever be the same.”

The rest of the day was strange to say the least. Every conversation in the halls of Mountain Pointe was revolving around the towers, or the Pentagon, or whether or not people thought it would continue. Announcement after announcement come over the PA at school and sport after sport was canceled for the day; but not football. We practiced that day and wound up being one of only six teams in the state to play their game on Wednesday, Sept. 12. I remember Coach Keifer coming to our practice that day and telling the entire football team that the terrorists wanted us all to be scared, that they wanted us to change our routine, that they wanted us to give up. He told us that we would play our game and that we would show them in the only way we could that we would not give up.

I’ll never forget September 11, 2001. It was a day that changed how Americans looks at the rest of the world, and how we all look at ourselves. It was a day that caused all of us to feel things that many of us had never dreamed of feeling. So many people lost loved ones and are still feeling the effects today.

All of us were affected, though. Everyone experienced that day in their own way and has had to deal with the reality since. As we remember 9/11 this year, I hope that we can make a personal pledge to do our part in celebrating the fact that we have not given up, that we may have been scared and may have been wounded, but, more than anything, we are a committed and united country. Let us remember how blessed we are to be American and how lucky we are that the greatest tragedy in our history might have knocked us down, but it did not break us. We are still here and strong in our resolve to honor and remember those affected by September 11, 2001.

Social Studies teacher Lisa Adams

September 11, 2011: It started out like every other day. My children, Jake and Sara, were getting ready for school. We were all at Corona at that time: Jake, a senior; Sara, a freshman; and me, teaching social studies.
As we were all busy getting ready to leave, Sara came into my room to tell me a plane had hit the World Trade Center. Could it be an accident? Was it on purpose? At that point all I had were questions. Then a second plane hit! As we drove to school that morning we listened to the radio; reports of a plane hitting the Pentagon, and another to soon crash into a Pennsylvania field.

We drove mostly in silence, but my mind was racing. What was happening? What did all this mean for my children? How was I going to face my senior students that day? Seniors who will soon leave high school – what does this mean for their world? Their future? I was holding back my fears and fighting my tears. What will this mean for my children, how do I help them make sense of what is happening when I can’t make sense of it was going through my mind?

In class that day, we watched the news. I felt it was important and appropriate for my senior students to know what was happening, to ask questions, and to try to sort it all out. We watched in disbelief as the events of the day unfolded. How could a building like the World Trade Center collapse? Was it real? I knew that I did not have the answers, yet together we could discuss and process what was happening. My feelings that day were ones of disbelief, yet I needed to keep fears and confusion hidden from my students. In times of crisis, like this, isn’t it up to us, as adults, to protect our children from the harsh realities of the world? Yet, here we were watching what was happening, as it took place. Today, there is no protection in our world from information overload.

I thought about how our world changed that day. The United States had only been openly attacked at Pearl Harbor bringing us into WWII. What would this bring? What will be the future for these seniors? A draft into the military, global warfare, fear as part of our lives? As a government teacher, I want to instill in my students an appreciation for what our country stands for, and how we came to be and how to serve. What ways will they find to serve in a world so changed by the attacks on our country?

Ten years later I think, what has changed? I have witnessed an increase in patriotism, and, as a government teacher, that is encouraging. Yet, is it true patriotism or just a reaction to fear? Perhaps, a little of both. Our country has entered into two wars since 9/11, and our young men and women are putting their lives on the line and on hold while we engage an enemy the likes we have not seen before. I have seen many more of my students decide to enlist in the military, and I believe that much of this has been a reaction to 9/11. There has not been a revival of the draft, and for that I am grateful. We, as a nation, have tolerated our government’s intrusion more and more into our lives, in the name of protection. We tolerate searches that we would never have imagined 20 years ago at airports, during the phone calls we make, and even what we check out at the local library.

As for my family and my life, I am still teaching, still loving my job. Yet, the nature and feelings about our government are different from 10 years ago. We talk about how our civil liberties have changed and laws now infringe more and more into our lives. Not all of this is due to 9/11, yet I do believe our nation was set upon this path by the events of that day. Jake enlisted in the Navy; I can’t say that this was a reaction to 9/11, or an intrinsic need to serve, or the adventure of the Navy, but it does not matter. I am proud of his service. As for Sara, it seems her life is as it would be if this had not happened. Yet, the world is different; she will live a life with more intrusion from government agencies. In the name of safety, we all will.

Is our world different? Yes. Life is about change, no matter where it comes from. Ten years ago it came from outside and forced change upon us. It did not destroy us as a nation; it moved us in a new direction. Perhaps, there has been a benefit. We seem to care more about who and what we are as a people, to find some solace in our patriotism and honor for those who serve. Growing up during the Vietnam era, I saw a nation in crisis that did not honor those who served in our military. Today, we do, if we have doubts or questions, it is about the decisions made by leaders, not those in the field. For me, that respect and gratitude for those who serve is well deserved.

As we look back and reflect on the events of 9/11, we must remember how a city and a nation came together in a time of crisis. One of the legacies of that day is how we recognize the sacrifices made by the first responders in times of need: The men and women who ran toward the towers of the World Trade Center, not away. The men and women who have put their lives on the line by serving in the military and are sacrificing their time with family to end regimes of hate and oppression in our world.

Senior Haley Shaffer

It’s hard to believe that about 10 years ago the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks took place. That day not only changed the world, it changed my best friend, Aren. I will never forget the day when she called me crying; her dad happened to be in New York at the time to do a few business conferences in the city. I had no idea he was in the building that would ultimately lead to his death.

Even though I wasn’t very old at the time, I still knew how hard of a time she was having. I clearly remember having my mom drive me to the store to get a big brown teddy bear. And afterward, we went over to her house to comfort her. I vividly remember Aren looking like a hurricane, drenched in tears. I then realized that this is the hardest thing for her, but with the comfort and love we gave to her, I think it helped drastically.

I thought to myself if I was in her place comfort is the best thing anyone could offer me. Now every Sept. 11, we always get together and make the best out of it.