Hello again! To refresh your memory, I am a senior majoring in English and French, and I spent my summer as a research assistant for VOICES of September 11th, a non-profit located in New Canaan, Connecticut. The organization works towards helping family members affected by 9/11 and by participating in different aspects of the 9/11 community today. After working with VOICES, I have a good perspective on how the organization runs and what it’s like to work in an office full time doing this unique type of research.  

From a day to day basis, the researchers spent most of our time leafing through documents. We poured over hundreds of pages of best practices performed by other individuals and communities affected by instances of mass violence – such as the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University, the Oklahoma City bombing, and September 11th – and we “data mined,” as my supervisor Gale called it. She was very laid back and let the other research assistant and I make our own judgments regarding when we should complete each task and how much we should write or read into something. It’s nice to know that I was not in a high-pressure environment, but we still paid attention to our deadlines, as the project I worked on, which was funded by the government, had a very concrete deadline. I like this type of structure because, for the most part, it was stress-free for me.  

With our many documents, we “data mined” for ways in which communities responded to those affected by the mass trauma event and those who suddenly lost loved ones as a result of terrorism or other types of violence. This included informal support groups, social media connections between families, professional organizations, or tasks performed by emergency responders. After reading through various documents, I usually took notes and sometimes wrote short summaries to be filed away for later use. This summer was technically “phase one” of the research project, so I was responsible for a lot of digging through folders, browsing online sources, and organizing references to be used for future use.  

As the weeks progressed, I was assigned more specific topics within the umbrella of mass violence to really narrow my search and write more directly. For the final submission to the Department of Justice at the end of the project (which will be long after I left this summer), I was assigned two areas:  a “personal perspective” section that discussed different definitions of a victim and how trauma can affect an individual personally; and the section on the Oklahoma City bombing discussing the incident on April 19, 1995, which was the first example of homegrown terrorism here in the United States. Both of these sections had about 10-15 sub-sections that ranged from one to two pages in length. I read through government reports, including those from the Office of Victims of Crime (OVC) – the department with which we integrate our research – and also those concerning 9/11, such as the new Zadroga Act or the 9/11 commission report. I learned so much about 9/11 and other mass trauma events that I feel so much more up-to-date with what’s going on in our world today and what actions our government is taking now to ensure our nation’s safety against such tragedies.  

A special highlight of my experience with VOICES was the Annual Always Remember Gala held at the end of June. It was the first time I attended or worked at an event as serious as this, and though I did not work so much on planning the event in the weeks leading up to that day, I came to understand just how much work goes into planning a formal dinner and ceremony. The gala was held at the Chelsea Piers in Manhattan with live performances and Kathie Lee Gifford as our guest speaker. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton even sent VOICES a pre-recorded video message to be played at the gala, as she had to decline her invitation this year (she has followed the organization’s work and progress over the past few years and is in close contact with VOICES founder, Mary Fetchet). After hours of preparing centerpieces, ushering guests, fixing final touches on the Silent Auction, and even enjoying a bit of the presentations ourselves, the entire staff was exhausted by the end of the night. Corporations who have contributed significantly to 9/11 – such as Lend Lease, the construction company responsible for building the September 11th Memorial – and family members of those who died in the attacks, were in the audience. I felt honored to be among them and privileged to hear their stories.  

Look for one more post from me for my final thoughts on working for this great organization!