There are moments in history when people remember exactly where they were. September 11, 2001, is one of those moments.

Twenty-five years later, the haunting details of that morning are part of a shared memory of loss, fear, courage, and uncertainty. For those not yet born, or too young to remember, September 11 is something they know through history rather than memory.

As it marks the 25th anniversary, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum is placing a particular emphasis on educating the millions of Americans born after 9/11. This year’s programs and events for younger audiences are designed to connect a new generation with the impact of that day.

At American International College, that generational transition is happening in the classroom. This fall, AIC welcomed its first students into a new Fire Science and Emergency Services program, offering bachelor’s and associate degrees for students preparing for careers in fire service and emergency response.

Ayva Borelli, a senior from Auburn, Massachusetts, is completing her fire science degree at AIC after her former college, Anna Maria College, closed. She also saw greater career development opportunities at AIC and in the Springfield area.

Borelli was not alive when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Flight 93. But she is now preparing for a career in the profession forever changed by that day.

“Despite not having the lived experience, I think having knowledge of what happened on September 11, 2001, as somebody who sees themselves in the future of both the emergency and fire service field is so crucial because it was a huge turning point for emergency services,” Borelli said.

From Memory to History

For AIC History Professor Robert Ravens-Seger, the 25th anniversary is an opportunity to remember the people who lost their lives that day and those who put themselves at risk trying to save them.

“When one thinks of the attacks of September 11, 2001, one thinks of the destruction of so many lives,” Ravens-Seger said. “I think mostly, however, of the selfless heroism of the first responders.”

Hundreds of firefighters and police officers entered the World Trade Center as thousands of people were evacuating. 441 first responders — 343 of them firefighters — never came home. Their deaths represent the largest single-day loss of emergency personnel in the country’s history.

“The fact that they ran toward danger to help others says something not only about them in particular, heroic as they were, but of first responders in general,” Ravens-Seger said. “It makes me think of those who enter the profession today: police, firefighters, paramedics and EMTs, who answer that call, and who know full well what may be asked of them.”

Borelli has come to understand that sacrifice through her own preparation for a career in emergency services.

Growing up, Borelli first learned about 9/11 in school. As she began training for a career in emergency services, her perspective expanded to include the long-term effects of the attacks on the first responders who were there that day.

“I learned that even years later, emergency personnel who responded that day are still dealing with the long-term health impacts of their exposure, as are the loved ones of those who suffered losses that day,” she said.

In addition to the immediate fatalities, more than 430 New York firefighters have since died from 9/11-related illnesses, primarily cancers linked to exposure to toxic dust at Ground Zero.

Learning about the health effects of exposure to carcinogens made Borelli consider the possible consequences of the career she had chosen.

“It made me realize that if I am going to pursue this career path, it will require personal sacrifice and the potential for similar long-term consequences,” she said.

A Profession Changed

Thomas Bogart, a retired fire chief and AIC assistant professor of practice who coordinates the College’s Fire Science and MPA programs, said September 11 fundamentally changed how fire and emergency-service professionals are educated and prepared.

Before September 11, he said, firefighters were trained to respond to hazardous materials incidents, mass-casualty events, and major disasters. The attacks, however, demonstrated the need for multiple agencies and disciplines to work together during complex emergencies. Those lessons helped shape today’s emphasis on all-hazards preparedness, incident management, interoperability, and multidisciplinary training.

“Technical competence alone is not enough,” Bogart said. “We have to educate firefighters, officers, emergency managers, and EMS professionals to think, lead, communicate, collaborate, and make decisions in circumstances that may bear little resemblance to anything they have encountered before.”

Borelli points to the development of the National Incident Management System, which provides a common framework for emergency response, as one example of how the profession changed in the years following the attacks.

“9/11 heavily emphasized the importance of pre-planning measures within mitigation departments of emergency management sectors,” she said. “It also shed some light on the lack of communication and coordination between local, state, and federal jurisdictions.”

For Bogart, that need for coordination is one reason technical training alone is not enough. Today’s fire science professionals need an education that prepares them to think beyond individual tasks and respond when circumstances do not follow a plan.

“Training answers the question: Can you perform the task?” he said. “Education asks harder questions: Why are we doing it this way? What happens when the plan fails? What information are we missing? Who else needs to be involved?”

Choosing a Career of Service

Borelli’s path to emergency services was not always clear. She initially planned to become a nurse, but her direction changed after firefighters and paramedics responded to an emergency involving her father.

Seeing first responders in action gave her an intimate understanding of the profession she would eventually pursue.

“I chose a career in emergency services because I wanted to work in a field where I could help people and make a difference,” Borelli said.

Her experience as a recruit firefighter has only strengthened that decision.

“Working as a recruit and getting hands-on experience has only made me fall in love with this career path more,” she said.

Borelli plans to continue developing her career in fire investigation. She also hopes to encourage other young women to consider careers in fields that have traditionally been male-dominated.

That goal became particularly personal while she worked with elementary school students on fire safety.

“There was no better feeling than the students telling me they wanted to be a fire woman like me,” she said.

Carrying the Lessons Forward

The education of today’s fire science students has implications beyond their own careers, Bogart said. The generation now entering the profession will eventually be responsible for preparing the one that follows.

“Twenty-five years from now, many of today’s students will be the fire chiefs, emergency managers, professors, instructors, and public-safety executives responsible for preparing another generation,” Bogart said.

By then, September 11 will be half a century in the past.

“Our responsibility today is therefore not merely to tell them what happened on September 11, 2001,” Bogart said. “We need to help them understand why it still matters to the profession they have chosen.”

That responsibility extends across AIC’s academic offerings in Fire Science and Emergency Services, Criminal Justice, and the Public Safety Leadership Academy, all of which prepare students and professionals for careers centered on serving their communities.

Twenty-five years after September 11, remembrance looks different for those who were not yet born. Today’s undergrads cannot recall where they were that morning. They did not watch the towers fall in real time.

But they can study what happened and how those lessons continue to shape the way professionals prepare for and respond to complex emergencies. For Borelli and others of her generation studying for careers in emergency services, September 11 is a defining chapter in the professional history they are preparing to inherit.