Standard-Examiner A YEAR OF 9-11 CHALLENGE Youth From 1A although it wavered for a few months, is once again intact. "I'm not a whole lot differ¬ent than I was a year ago be¬cause of 9-11," King said. But she did note one significant change - a greater apprecia¬tion for life itself. "We all take life for grant¬ed and to see so many people die so quickly, it makes us re¬alize we're not invincible," King said. "It's humbling... it puts everyone in their place." Some Utah youth said they felt a surge of patriotic pride after 9-11, but there were mixed feelings on flag-wav¬ing and going to war. North Ogden resident Mel¬issa Moore, 18, turned on the news in time to watch the plane hit the second tower. "It was surreal. I thought, this can't be happening, but it was," Moore said. Cherish families Moore said she now cherishes her family and friends more, is more aware of the world, and has a new perspective on life. "It's definitely the Pearl Harbor of our time. It brought us back to our patri¬otic roots and made us cher-ish who we are," Moore said. Since 9-11, she decorated her room in red, white and blue. Before 9-11, Moore was still trying to choose a career path at college. Now she wants to be an architect. "Ironically... I'll know I what happened in the (Trade Center) buildings, and it will serve as an example of how to avoid it," Moore said. Gavin Cain, 22, of Uintah I Highlands, was working as a bartender while attending the University of Utah last September. "I worked late the night before and my roommate woke me up and told me about the attack. I thought it was a weird dream, or he was messing with me," Cain said. Shock, anger After seeing the footage on TV, Cain said he felt shock and anger. Surprisingly, some of those feelings remain fresh a year later. "I still get angry when I think about a terrorist attack on American soil. It gets the adrenaline going a little bit," Cain said. Although other fac¬tors entered into his decision, Cain said 9-11 was part of the reason he enlisted in the Ma¬rines a month later. "For me, my country was in danger. I don't think any¬one thought the U.S. would be taken over, but I wanted to be part of the retaliation," he said. At one time, Cain consid¬ered entering the Marine Corps as an officer. But after 9-11 he chose to enlist. "The opportunity for com¬bat is greater, and down the road, when I become an offi¬cer, I'll have a better under¬standing of the men I'll be leading," Cain said. Ogden resident Jahmal Sawyer, 20, said he also felt shocked and angry when he first heard the news on Sept. 11. "It made everyone feel vulnerable." Although the military ac¬tion and heightened security following 9-11 calmed people down, "with the one-year an¬niversary it will hit us all again," Sawyer said. Military Enrolled in the ROTC program at Weber State, Saw¬yer said he expects to see military action if the United States is still at war when he's done. "Since high school, I've wanted to be in the military, and although it's a little frightening, when it comes down to it, we've got the strongest military in the world. It's hard to feel as scared when you know you have an effective force be¬hind you," Sawyer said. Jason Gerdes, 28, is cur¬rently working on his mas¬ter's degree at the University of Utah. Last September, he was living in Ogden, finishing his computer science degree at Weber State University. "I remember waking up and my roommate was al¬ready watching the news. I saw the first plane go into the World Trade Center and was shocked and horrified," he said. "I missed my first class and watched CNN as they went over and over it." Gerdes, an ex-Marine who served as a combat engineer in California, said the events of 9-11 had a lasting effect. "I supported Bush when we first went to war but since then I've changed my opinion. We can't win this war with missiles and bombs, because it's almost a war over belief systems." Islamic friends Since 9-11, Gerdes said he's made an effort to have Islamic friends, "to under¬stand what makes them who they are." "I don't think we should be an international bully or po¬liceman. It's the wrong atti¬tude to try to be the biggest kid on the block - anyone who's been to high school has seen that," Gerdes said. Farmington resident Will Bargar, 22, is currently ma¬joring in Technical Sales at Weber State and works at a botanical center in Kaysville. "I had just gotten out of class when I hear the news from two friends. I turned the radio on in my truck .. and was stunned. It caught me off guard," Bargar said. But Bargar said that overall, his attitudes and his life plans have not changed much because of 9-11. "It's funny that now you see Americans driving around with flags on the car, everyone hopping on a band¬wagon. I find it annoying." Refusing to mindlessly join the flag-wavers, Bargar said he's loyal to his country but prefers to show it in oth¬er ways. "Every country song you hear now is about being an American boy. People are making millions of dollars off people's misfortune," Bargar said. Silver lining Riverdale resident Joey Hansen, 18, was a senior at Bonneville High School last fall and was getting ready for school when she first tuned in and saw the second plane hit the World Trade Center. "Later at work, we watched the news and I felt scared for the victims and rescue workers, and was i frustrated that I could do nothing from here," Hansen said. Looking back, she has found a silver lining. "I feel we've made a lot of progress in our country be¬coming united, standing up for things that are good. A lot of heroes came to the fore¬front." Even at her young age, Hansen had already made community service a habit. "After 9-11,1 knew I had to do more, to be a better citizen to other people," she said. "I'd never been involved in world news, but this brought it right to my house." Hansen will celebrate the first year anniversary of 9-11 near New York City, possibly at Ground Zero. She leaves Utah this month to be a nan¬ny for a family in New Jer¬sey.