As I let out a giant sigh of relief
upon reviewing the final source of my research paper, a seemingly never-ending
journey had finally come to an end. All the speed bumps and roadblocks had
finally been overcome and it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my
shoulders almost instantly. My research process was a tad bit unorthodox to say
the least. As it turns out, researching a tragedy such as the September 11th
terrorist attacks is difficult for many reasons. One is that reading first hand
accounts from those directly affected by the attacks is pretty sad. Another
difficulty is that in depth information on the attacks is difficult to find,
presumably because of the graphic nature of the day and the total chaos that
followed. Because of this, my research consisted of many database and Google
searches, magazine clippings, and even audio interviews. All spread out to hunt
for every possible detail I could. Thankfully, all of my research fit very
nicely once it was all said and done.
When
I first sat down to begin my research on September 11th, I remember
having no idea where to begin. The event is such a large part of history that
it’s really hard to narrow research down without feeling like you’re excluding
something important. There were many points in my research where I had to stop
and really think about a source and it’s importance to my paper. Often times, I
found that if I had to give it a second thought then it really didn’t have a
necessary place in my paper and needed to be discarded. Later in my research, I
got really good about judging sources by just their title without having to
read the whole thing. It wasn’t until I could pick out sources quick and easy
that my research really began to get some traction.
The
first “jackpot” source that I found in my research had me almost jumping for
joy. I still remember it vividly. It was a pilot’s first hand account of
exactly what happened in his cockpit on September 11th, and the
emotional toll it had on him at the time and still to this day. It was exactly
what my research paper needed to back up everything that it claims. No one can
dispute a first hand account from a pilot that was actually flying on September
11th. I remember feeling like my research topic and my views were
finally validated after reading that source – an encouraging feeling to have in
the baby stages of a research paper. Discovering that source got me enthralled
and I ended up doing about 4 hours of research that day, completely centered on
the emotional toll of September 11th.
The
euphoria was short lived, however. I realized the next day that I had entirely
too much information on the emotional side of September 11th and
zero information on the economical and security effects of the attacks. Just
when I thought that things were going great, I hit my first major road bump.
Being a pilot myself, it was really easy to research the emotional effects that
pilots encountered. However, I don’t know anything about economics. I realized
that researching the economic effects of September 11th was going to be a long
road.
It
took what seemed like an eternity to get the ball rolling again. I didn’t even
know where to start researching economics, let along the effects that September
11th had on the economy. It took a couple Google searches and quite
a few website visits to get oriented in the economic world. However, once I
knew what I was looking for, I began to find some useful information. I quickly
learned that September 11th essentially crashed the United States
economy. I found information on airline passenger declines, exact revenue
decreases, increased security measure costs, and even information on the War on
Terror; all of these a direct effect of September 11th. I remember
pausing while reading about airlines having to file bankruptcy and really
thinking about how many lives the attacks really affected even beyond those
that were killed on that fateful day. It was pretty sad to think about.
Nearing
the end of my research, I felt like an expert on September 11th. I
realized that not only was I doing homework for a class, but I was also
learning about a huge event in United States history. With all the conspiracies
out there about September 11th, many people fail to acknowledge that
we, as a country, are still feeling the effects of that terrible day in a huge
way. Researching September 11th was more than just book knowledge
for me; it was, in its own way, a life lesson to stop dwelling on the
“what-ifs” of the past and focus on the future.
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