Four years ago, Adam Schaefer arrived on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University like a lot of other freshmen -- optimistic and more than a little anxious.

Then, just a few days into his college career, came the horrific jolt of the Sept. 11 attacks. Schaefer was in a chemistry lab when the news hit. He rushed to his dorm to watch the footage with a group that had gathered in the lounge.

"There were a lot of people sitting on the floor watching it in shock," Schaefer said. "It was surreal."

Soon after, Schaefer and the 1,043 other Southeast students who graduated Saturday at the Show Me Center knew that they would have to confront a suddenly scarier world away from home, in the company of unfamiliar faces.

On Saturday, those students donned caps and gowns to graduate. For some, the attacks were a defining experience, the moment when the identity of the class of '05 was shaped.

"It made me realize all the little problems we were going through as freshmen weren't that bad," said Schaefer, of St. Louis.

For Schaefer, 22, it caused renewed interest in others. On Saturday, he graduated with a degree in public health.

"I valued life more," he said. "It made me want to help people."

Kristyn Capelli, 21, of St. Louis, graduated Saturday with a degree in social work. She remembers students gathering together to talk about the attacks.

"We sort of all went through it together," she said. "Everyone remembers where they were when it happened. I was in a sociology class in Parker [Hall]. I heard all the students talking about it."

Capelli said it helped her realize how important family is.

"My mom was a flight attendant for TWA," she said. "So it was very frightening for me."

Alecia Thomas, 23, of Cape Girardeau, said it made her rethink her priorities.

"It definitely made me more proud of my country," said Thomas, who got a degree in public relations. "It made me value my family and my friends more, too."

Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder spoke to the class, never mentioning Sept. 11. But he did talk about life's struggle and the human spirit, themes that were common in the aftermath of the attacks.

"These four years have not been without struggle," Kinder said. "Struggle is a fact of the human condition."

Wes Hamm, 22, who lives south of Scott City, said the events of Sept. 11 changed him, too.

"It changed everybody," said Hamm, who graduated with a degree in industrial technology. "You started seeing more people proud of where they're from."

It also made him less sure of his place in the world.

"I became uncertain about what my future would be," he said. "I didn't know if we were going to keep seeing these attacks in other parts of the country or what. We didn't feel as safe, it seems like. It was hard to get that back."

smoyers@semissourian.com

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