From the flags that lined Charleston’s Lincoln Avenue to the little white shirt featuring an American flag Heather Locklear wore on the Jay Leno show Monday night, one thing is for sure. Patriotism has been seeping from every pore of this nation since the attacks on Sept. 11.

Since our nation was attacked, and I saw the World Trade Center towers tumble to the ground, something inside me has changed. I don’t really know what I thought patriotism was, but now it is clearer to me than ever before.

Patriotism is not waving a flag on your front porch or singing the national anthem at a baseball game. It’s much more than that. It’s a nation full of individual people pulling together to create the illusion of one.

Visions of people working together to rescue those caught in the rubble of the WTC towers will stay with me forever. One of those images is the New York fireman hanging the flag from what remained of the building. I realized that those people were not at all unlike me. We all live in this country and, for once, we were all pulling together to accomplish a common goal.

For once, I didn’t feel like I was completely separated from the situation stuck out here in central Illinois where the most exciting thing that ever happens is the county fair during harvest season. The events were happening in the greatest city in the world hundreds of miles away from Charleston, but the outpouring of emotion that was happening here made me feel very close to what was going on. For those of you who read my columns on a regular basis, you know that I don’t normally try to stir up excitement and debate by taking a side of a particular campus issue. I do, however, write about things that are dear to my heart. What sparked me to writing this particular column is the unfortunate incident that occurred recently involving some Eastern students stealing a number of the flags that were donated by the VFW to line Lincoln Avenue. I’m not going to bash those students because I’m sure they already feel bad enough for what they’ve done. Most people have a moment in their lives where their good judgment leaves them.

My point is we should not let the strong sense of patriotism we all felt after Sept. 11 leave us so quickly. Since that day, people have been telling me I will always remember where I was and what I was doing on Sept. 11, 2001. I hope those memories also leave with me a sense of patriotism I will never lose.

Before this tragic act, patriotism only became a part of my life on one day out of the year … the Fourth of July. Even then, I’m not sure I really understood what the Fourth of July stood for. Theoretically, it is supposed to be a day where citizens of the United States gather together to be thankful they belong to a nation as great as this one. However, for me, the most exciting thing that happened on the Fourth of July was getting to take my young niece and nephew to the local fireworks display and watch them laugh and cover their ears because of the loudness. There was usually no patriotism involved. Again, for those of you who read my column, you know that I tend to challenge the campus with something in closing. Well this time it’s this: I challenge all of Eastern’s campus, students and faculty, to not let yourselves forget the tragedies that occurred on Sept. 11. Life may have gone on for the majority of us, but for others life will never be the same. My hope is that the overwhelming sense of patriotism and unity we felt as a country after the attacks will stay with us for years to come.

Jennifer Rigg is a senior English major and a monthly

columnist for The Daily Eastern News. Her e-mail address is a< href="mailto:jlrigg@eiu.edu">jlrigg@eiu.edu. Columns are the opinion of the author.