Ten Days...Five Students

Ten years and twelve days ago, I was asleep in my bed in room 3-something in Mosher Hall. It was my freshman year at Texas A&M and Tuesdays were a late date for me. My first class wasn't until 0935 or so and every last second of sleep was coveted. I woke up shortly after 0800 seconds before my alarm went off and rolled over to see my roommate staring at the TV. Eyes wide. Jaw dropped. Hand clasped. I reached for my glasses and when I looked up, I saw the burning tower.

"Sara, what is that?"

"The World Trade Center in New York."

"What happened?"

"They're not sure."

We sat there in silence for a good 15 minutes or so, then walked over the our suitemates' room. Same reaction. I don't remember much more about that day except that classes were called off and the entire campus had a somber feel to it.

If my memory serves me correctly, we didn't have a football game that weekend and I probably made the 3-hour trip to Marshall. When I got back, I remember walking into the Commons and people were selling t-shirts. Red. White. Blue. Then I read The Battalion and heard somewhere about a couple of students attempting to have Kyle Field to be a sea of red, white and blue. Third deck = red. Freshman = third deck. I bought a red shirt emblazoned with the words "Standing for America". My dad was planning on joining me for that football game so on Friday, I ensured he knew to wear a red shirt. I think I briefly explained what the plan was and he went with it.

Fast forward to Saturday afternoon. It was hot. The OSU Cowboys were in town. We spiraled up ramp after ramp after ramp until we finally reached the third deck...towards the south end zone. As we walked out of the corridor, I stopped. Chills raced down my spine. The air in my lungs quickly disappeared. Tears in my eyes. I think I heard Dad say, "Wow."

It. Was. Incredible.

It was one of the top three memorable events during my 5.5 years in Aggieland. (The other two were putting on my Aggie ring for the first time and walking across the stage to have President Gates hand me my diploma.)

The band put on one hell of a show, celebrating the school's 125th anniversary and commemorating the first responders who continued working at Ground Zero. I couldn't help but think of all the people whose lives were lost and the amount of despair in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC that day. I was never more proud to be an American. And an Aggie.

I think if you asked my dad today his thoughts on the Red, White and Blue Out at Kyle Field, he would tell you he didn't think it would've been pulled out to that extent. He'd probably say, "Sure, I expected a few hundred people cooperating and for it be sort of neat, but nothing like it turned out."

The most amazing thing? It came from five students. They had ten days. CC Creations printed the shirts and worked 24/7 to get them printed. They ran out several times and had to reprint. Students volunteered at all hours during the late night and early morning to ensure everyone knew of the event. They sold 30,000...30 THOUSAND...t-shirts on Game Day alone! They raised almost $180,000, flew to New York City and handed it over to the Fire and Police crews themselves.

It. Was. Incredible.

(And there's a really good article here)