An event that occurred in my life which could be used to divide my life into two periods would be the September 11th terrorist attacks. Before 9/11, I was content on living my life entirely closed minded, and unworried about events happening in the world around me. I was fine not watching the news and being oblivious to foreign affairs. I only learned about the world through history and did not care to learn about the present news or politics. However, because I live in New York City, September 11th hit pretty close to home, literally. Although I live uptown from the World Trade Center (or ground zero as it is now referred to), the next day, I could smell the burnt rubber and metal on my block. After these terrorist attacks, I wanted to learn more about who they were and why they did this because I was no longer comfortable being in the dark. I began reading and researching about Al-Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden and attempted to learn their reasoning. By becoming more knowledgeable on this topic I no longer felt as afraid about the future and instead knew what to expect with regards to the United States’ standing in the world.