Visiting the World Trade Center Memorial

On Saturday, October 21st, the Humanities House traveled to New York City. Our group visited three locations: first: The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and second: The World Trade Center Museum and Memorial or the High line Park. Since there were limited tickets, each one of us had the option of either attending the World Trade Center Museum and Memorial or the High line Park, so I chose to attend the World Trade Center option since I had never seen it up close. After our tour of the MoMA everyone met at the entrance of the building, handed out tickets depending on which part of the group you were going with, and headed off!

Now, since both the memorial and the High line is a fair distance away from the MoMA, we took the subway to get there, breaking into two small groups after our stop. Once my group had arrived at the World Trade Center Memorial, all it took was a short walk and we were there!

Instantly the scene was amazing! There were so many people, yet at the same time it felt calm, as if I had stepped into whole other world. You can see the One World Trade Center looking over the scene too, towering over the beautiful fountains.

I noticed there were many people crowded all around the sides of both fountains, and for good reason; the sight of it alone was breathtaking, mixed in with the quietness of the water falling into the middle of each fountain really brought on a sense of peacefulness and showed a dramatic contrast to the city outside. There were also the names of every person who unfortunately perished that day inscribed into the fountain as well, with many people leaving flowers, flags, and various other things in the names. I counted at least 16 names during my walk around that had something left on them.

After walking around the fountains for a while, I made my way down to the museum. In the top level, you can see an overview of the area while walking down the stairs. Once I reached the bottom, I saw there were some television screens showing the beginning construction of the Twin Towers back in 1946. Walking around, you can also see other things such as the New York Fire Department motorcycle, various pieces of metal that were twisted and shaped following the collapse, destroyed and burned firefighter trucks, and even the radio antenna from the north tower!

I also noticed there was a very tranquil room in the middle of the museum, where many of the other visitors were walking towards. I followed, and saw a room filled with the pictures of every person who died, their pictures hung in every space around the outer walkway. It gave me a sense of just how many lives were affected that day. In the middle of the room was a place to mourn, where the names of those who died are showed and said aloud on a giant projector. It was very somber.

Afterwards, it was time to leave and I got to say goodbye to New York. Our group met with our other half and we boarded our bus back to Connecticut. Looking back, visiting New York with Humanities learning community was a great opportunity, and I’m grateful for it. The World Trade Center Memorial brought some emotions inside me, but I don’t regret visiting. It was a wonderful experience that showed me how we’ll always love and remember the ones we’ve lost, no matter what.