Pruis Hall was packed with people, from students to city emergency officials, who wanted to spend the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorists attacks by listening to a survivor tell her story.
Michelle Rosado, a survivor who escaped the 95th floor of the second tower at the World Trade Center before it collapsed during the attacks, talked about hope and perseverance while recounting her experience.
On Sept. 11, 2001, Rosado, then a presentation specialist for Fiduciary Trust in New York, said she was asked on Monday, Sept. 10, to do a presentation the following day for the United Nations, and to come into work early. Her normal hours were from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
"Because I was dedicated, I decided to listen to my manager and come in at 8:45 a.m. that day." She worked for a company that had 850 employees, of which about 100 died.
Early in her day, she heard the faint roar of an airplane engine, she said. She said the sound got louder and louder, until a "rush of energy flowed through my body, as the first plane slammed into tower one."
She heard a person say "A plane hit tower one. Everybody, get out of the building." Rosado said she grabbed her purse and headed for the stairs. But she said a co-worker of hers told her "You're getting into the elevator." Rosado said that day her friend saved her life.
She said the elevator descended to the 90th floor, which housed the Human Resource and Legal departments.
"When the elevator door opened, what we saw was complete chaos." She said some of her co-workers got on cell phones, calling their families saying, "I'm OK, I'm OK." Rosado said some of those individuals did not get into any elevators, "and they are no longer with us."
The elevator descended to the 78th floor, the main elevator bank for all of the tower two elevators.
"We pushed and shoved our way into the elevator car," she said, noting nothing had happened to tower two yet. "We were determined to find a way to get out."
She and others made it to the lobby, and her co-worker ran for Liberty Street.
"I saw myself expecting what I would see," she said. "I saw a bunch of firefighters running into the lobby."
Rosado said she remembered calling her manager to say a plane hit the trade center.
She watched as New York City Police pushed people away from the trade center site, keeping them away from harm, as a steel beam was burning on the ground while she was talking with her manager.
She said she stood in front of the trade center — minutes after, the second plane had hit the South tower.
"My mind, my body and my soul had shut down to the point that nothing made sense," she said.
She went to the South Street Seaport with another friend, Andrew.
She said the group that walked there was like a marching band, they walked calmly. The group watched their tower collapse. Rosado, Andrew and others walked for 12 to 16 miles until she found a cab, 35th Street in mid-town Manhattan.
Rosado said she got home at 3 p.m. that day, and her mother, who worked two blocks from the trade center, came home at 3:15 p.m.
She said her mother had no idea if her daughter was dead or alive, but she had a feeling her daughter was OK.
Rosado, for the first year after 9/11, said she suffered survivor's guilt.
"It was not until I looked within myself and found the inner-strength, to dedicate myself to sharing a message of awareness, and a message of peace," she said.
She said two weeks after 9/11, her manager called her and said he needed Rosado to go to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. to handle disaster recovery efforts.
She agreed, and arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Oct. 1.
"I couldn't wait to get out of New York," she said, adding she grew up around the corner from Macy's and Herald Square. "Because of the devastation, I could not stand being around so much death, so much devastation."
On Oct. 2, she met her husband, Randy Rosado, the person who set up her office computer, and co-author with Rosado of the 2011 book, "Pursuing Your Destiny: How to Overcome Adversity and Achieve Your Dreams."
Michelle Rosado, who now lives in West Palm Beach, Fla. with her husband, said 2009 was the last time she was in New York City, adding she hasn't yet gone to the 9/11 Memorial because she's needed time.
Melinda Messineo, associate professor of sociology, said a cousin of hers, who worked in the second tower, died that day.
"I know it's hard for the people who are left behind to be reminded [of 9/11]," she said. "I think if we actually did forget, that it would be disrespectful to the families who lost people."
Junior Ashley Mobley said following the remembrance event, 9/11 is a tragic event in U.S. history that should be taught to future generations.
"I think it's important [media] keep showing [coverage of 9/11] every year," she said.
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