Changed by 9/11: Katie Baiata, Mother

Although it will be 10 years since the Sept. 11 attacks, Glen Cove resident Katie Baiata can recall the day - in perfect detail - from start to finish.

Baiata, 28, had just started her first week at Nassau Community College when it happened.

“I was in my accounting class,” she began. “I remember the look on my teacher’s face when she heard the news. She got so worried, and I didn’t realize why. The last thing I thought of was terrorism. I was so ignorant then.”

Baiata said her professor appeared considerably more concerned than other Nassau staff that morning.

“My teacher had been in the twin towers when the ’94 bombs went off, so that’s why she was so worried," she said. "She immediately knew there was something going on.”

After her first class, Baiata immediately got into her car and turned on the radio, only to discover complete chaos.

“I remember, I heard on Howard Stern, they were discussing whether or not they needed to evacuate,” she said. “They didn’t know what was going on. No one was sure why the plane hit.”

Baiata, now a mother of three, is mindful of how the attacks changed her outlook on life.

“It definitely opened my eyes to what the real world was,” she said. “I have super anxiety stemming from that [day]. A lot of my anxiety, as an adult, probably started from realizing how vulnerable we all are.”