Lynn Manuell

I was not yet teaching on 9/11...but it is how I found my way to teaching. I was a Broadway and touring company manager for shows. As I drove down the west side highway to rehearsal I saw the planes hit the World Trade Center and heard the event unfold on the radio as I was watching it live from my car.

We attempted to carry on rehearsing when news of the towers falling and missing planes came to us. After consideration the company sent us home for the day. We returned the next day to what looked like a deserted Times Square. I was told that the show was ready and I needn't come back.

After 19 months of unemployment, because no one knew how the economy would play out at that time, I attended a job fair. There I met a recruiter for the New York Teaching Fellows. I filled out an application and was accepted. 9/11 literally changed my life.

They say that out of every tragedy comes a miracle. For me the miracle was being led to a place where I could touch the lives of children and their families and their lives certainly touch mine.

Every year I pray that this will be the year my kids will know peace and that we move forward, always remembering how one day can change so many lives.