Same boat as Kayla...I was a Junior at URI on my way to my first class of the day, which started at 9:30am. I was also a SrA with the Rhode Island Air Guard at the time as well. I was driving along the main road to my college when the first tower was hit by American Flt 11. Had no idea, had the radio on and all, and I don't think anybody else knew what was going on.
10:45 rolls around, and my class had ended. I was on my way to the Student Union and I overheard a couple of people talking about a collision, and NYC and the like. Not thinking anything of it, I go into the student union and no kidding there were radios blasting and people surround it. At this point I'm thinking something bad is definitely going on. I go downstairs to get lunch, and see a mob of people surrounding the television in the nearby coffee lounge. I ask somebody what had happened, and the rest is history. At that point, both towers had fallen, the Pentagon was hit, and United 93 went down in P.A.
I frantically called my fiancee, now wife, where she was because her job required her to make occasional visits to the Bronx and Queens. I remember the cell phone networks being overloaded, and people freaking out because they had family members that worked in NYC. Thankfully my wife was in Hartford at the time. I had a summer job slinging luggage for American Airlines in Providence, and a ticket agent who worked the check-in counter in Providence was on American Flt 11 on her way to L.A. Small world, right?
The following weekend was my drill weekend, and the whole base was in Threatcon Charlie and nobody was allowed to park on base but to park in a vacant lot across from the main gate.
Can't believe it's been 8 years either!