Terrorism will never go away.

When asked what our definition of terrorism would be, 9/11 came to my mind immediately. It's hard to imagine that terrorism could affect any other country in the world when we experienced the most catastrophic terrorist attack our country has seen. I almost stereotype terrorism with America's fear of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Mr. Sweetz read aloud the actual definition of "terrorism"-is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. I was so surprised when he said "to intimidate" because those two words hit the nail on the head. And that is what 9/11 did.

The economic effects of those attacks are still prevalent 10 years later. Airport security is the most noticable and I've flown a couple times in the past 10 years. Those random security checks when they put you in the box and make you take off your shoes and such is definitely scary, because it's happened to me, but it also gives you a sense of comfort. Our cheerleading squad travels to Orlando, FL every year for Nationals so it's funny how long it takes 30 young women to get through security nowadays.

I learned a lot from our talk with Mr. Sweetz, like the stock market experienced the biggest crash on 9/11 since the Great Depression and it took 8 years for the economy to recover. Also, he pointed out to us that after the attacks, every bridge/overpass in the country had an army vehicle in park. I had no idea!!! It really shows how much Americans care to protect each other after such an awful event. And these fears still exist, we call this terrorism.

It's obvious the economic impacts of terrorism include loss of jobs, greater money expenditure on rebuilding and heightened safety, and tourism. I was surprised to hear that Disney spends an extra $120,000/week on extra security! Terrorism can also effect us psychologically as well. My younger brother recently enlisted in the United States Army so my fear of his deployment to Iraq will never go away.

I believe terrorist attacks could happen to us again, but I know America is more prepared than ever.