the 9/11 bulletin board in front of the SAO

A scarce few of the sun’s rays shone through the windows of St. Alban’s Chapel on a Friday afternoon, escaping the shadows of hovering clouds. Chaplain Daniel Leatherman walked up to the podium and glanced at the three people sitting in the pews.

He read Psalm 119 from the Bible, followed by a prayer by Chaplain Diane Martinson-Koyama for the 2,819 lives that were taken due to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. The commemoration service lasted ten minutes.

Chaos surrounded the serenity of the chapel as students ate their lunch and laughed. The commemoration service, requested by the ‘Iolani administration, was held on the day before the ninth anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The service was open to all ‘Iolani faculty members and students and announced twice in the daily bulletin. Junior Sydney Tamashiro, one of the 1,900 students attending ‘Iolani School, crept inside the chapel before the service began. Dr. Lily Driskill sat in the front of the chapel, head swaying from side to side. She was in deep prayer. Mrs. Kimi Frith sat taciturn in a back pew.

The rest of the 1,899 students skipped past the chapel as if there was no service inside to honor the 343 paramedics and officers, the 23 New York Police Department officers, and the 2,016 Twin Tower employees who died on 9/11.  As students passed, the clock in the chapel ticked for a full ten minutes. A few others, like sophomore David Clarke, were at extra help.

“The images [of 9/11] are so shocking,” Chaplain M.K. said. “It just hits me as it did the day of” the Twin Towers destruction. “I’ve been in that building, and I can imagine the people at their desks.”

Dylan Fujii, a junior, had different memories. “Well, it [the airliner] hit the World Trade Center, and it was done by Al-Qaeda, I think,” Fujii said.

Sophomore David Clarke recalled hearing about the incident in the news. “I was sick that day,” Clarke said, “so I didn’t go to school. I remember lying down watching TV, and then the TV automatically went from my show to the news.”

Clarke was 6 years old when the World Trade Center became Ground Zero. He missed the Sept. 10 chapel service but attended a commemoration outside of school.

Chaplain M.K. believes that the younger the child, the weaker his/her feelings are towards what happened on 9/11. She was not surprised that three people attended the service. The day of 9/11 is “history to them,” she said.

“The Devastating Decade”

As one of our nation’s largest tragedies, 9/11 defined our generation by instilling a fear of terrorism in our hearts and a respect for hometown heroes.  It would have been easy to assume that 9/11 would define the decade, but Americans’ ability to cope with the sadness and turn it into a sense of pride for our country show that they will move on and see the day as something that has had the ability to bring our nation together.

However, 9/11 was not the only tragedy in the 2000s.  Hurricane Katrina displaced many Americans in the South, as did the large tsunamis in Asia and Samoa.  Destruction has devastated the past ten years and as Al Gore has said, “what changed in the United States with Hurricane Katrina was a feeling that we have entered a period of consequences.”

“The Digital Decade”

Facebook.  Twitter.  Youtube.

The Internet has made its greatest boom in the 00s.  Apple first released the iPod in 2001, and since then, the world of music and technology has never been the same.

Our decade has created innovative new products that enable us to carry thousands of songs in our back pockets while reading the latest tweet from a friend an ocean away.

Cell phones and texting have transformed personal communication into instant gratitude.  Technological advances will only continue to expand as communication blitzes in front of us.

“The Dishonorable Decade”

Hollywood starlets like Audrey Hepburn and Julia Roberts have been replaced by Flava Flav and the Obama Girl.  This decade expanded the breadth of television by exposing people to the life of regular people in grand spectacles.

Viewers watched Bob and Jillian shape up America’s Biggest Losers while Bret Michaels and New York found true love.  The Kardashians shocked everyone by becoming famous for Khloe’s quick engagement and wedding to basketball star Lamar Odom, Kourtney’s pregnancy out of wedlock, and Kim’s sex tape scandal with rapper Ray J.  But Kim wasn’t the only one.  Paris Hilton exposed all the Internet creeps to “1 Night in Paris”.

This decade has been defined by trashy television that showcases “stars” during their less than 15 minutes of fame.

Every show has become more liberal.  Rosie O’Donnell, Clay Aiken, and Tila Tequila came out in an extravagant manner that would only occur in the 00s.

“A Decade at ‘Iolani”

Students at ‘Iolani have been affected by the technological advances and media influences, but the campus and student life have also undergone a major facelift.

The amphitheater and Father Bray complex were destroyed in order to make way for the Weinberg building and Kozuki Stadium which were both dedicated in 2003.  A statue of Sun Yat-Sen was also erected in front of the newly renovated entrance to Castle Building in 2008.

Lower School students had to give up the take-bars and hot metal slides on the playground in exchange for a safer jungle gym.

What will remain the largest change of the 2000s will, however, not relate to any reconstruction, but to a tradition that has been smoked out of existence.  This year marked a historic change in ‘Iolani’s Burning of the ‘I’ tradition.  The sons and daughters exclusive presence in the ceremony have been doused.

“The 2000s”

So maybe this decade will not be defined by a single moment in history, a construction, or a small, smothered flame, but as the foreground of the century.  Technological advances have paved the way for medical miracles, but they have also decreased communication, and television shows will only become more ridiculous and bold.

The 2000s will probably not be remembered.  Besides being difficult to refer to as the “oh-ohs” or “double aughs”, the 2000s have paved the way for even more progression.

When things are constantly changing, it’s hard to remember where everything began.  As the foundation, bricks are being laid above the surface that we have created and for that we will probably not be remembered.

However, those who have experienced the past ten years can hold claim to being the generation that started it all.