Country's transformation since event important part of national history 
Tuesday marked the 11th anniversary of a significant day in American history, a day that completely transformed the direction our country was heading. Sept. 11 affected everyone in the United States, whether you lived in Nebraska or right in Manhattan. Ever since that day, various groups of people have taken part in an immense amount of chatter about whether Sept. 11 should be declared a national "holiday."
It was a day of infamy. Heartbreak and paranoia shook the nation, changing the United States drastically. Travel had to be closely monitored, security measures everywhere increased, the nation's longest war was initiated overseas and we finally realized that a lot of people out there don't like us. That day cloaked our nation in mixed emotions. Nearly 3,000 lives were tragically ended, and heroes were made and lost. A day of memory would give families time to reflect on lost relatives, friends and co-workers, and this is more than enough justification for having a national holiday.
However, for some people, having a day off would not be helpful to our nation. Some feel as though taking a day off would convey to our opponents that we are still suffering and still shaken by what happened more than a decade ago. This might allow other nations to think of us as "weak." Of course, with a war blaring and countries all over the globe feeling uneasy, this surely isn't the idea we'd want to convey.
But whether or not we declare Sept. 11 a national holiday, there is a more pressing issue at hand, and that is the importance of taking time out of our school curriculum to remember and educate students about what happened on that tragic day. Many professors — not only at USC — choose not to mention the tragedy while class is in session.
In the near future, students with no recollection of this incident will reach high schools and universities. We need these students to be educated about how life in the United States, as well as the rest of the world, changed as a result of that infamous day. If we are unable to teach people of the atrocities our nation has seen, the youth will not be informed of the transformations we've gone through. Surely, the topic is still very sensitive, and it will undoubtedly remain sensitive for many years to come, but as a country we need to step up and educate those who are only coming of age now. National holiday or not, Sept. 11 is an imperative part of our nation's history, and it needs to continue to be in our textbooks and classrooms, as well as in our hearts and minds.
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