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CNN Saturday Morning News
Life Continues for College Freshman in Colorado
Aired September 29, 2001 - 08:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The attacks on America have had a direct impact on what would have been a normal parents weekend for two students at the University of Colorado. But that was before the world shifted.
CNN's Stephanie Oswald now with more from Boulder.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STEPHANIE OSWALD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a freshman in the reserve officer training corps, Nicole Chapman is continuing a family tradition. She was in grade school when her father was flying Stealth fighter jets over Saudi Arabia.
DON CHAPMAN: How you doing?
NICOLE CHAPMAN: Good.
DON CHAPMAN: You doing OK?
NICOLE CHAPMAN: Yes.
When he went to go before I was nine and I didn't know. My mom told me he was doing paperwork.
OSWALD: A decade later, Nicole is in the Army, and this time there's no attempt to hide from reality.
DON CHAPMAN: Even more important is that I had a chance to hug her after she's seeing all this on the TV. Even more. Give her a hug and say this still is the greatest country in the world.
OSWALD: Retired from the Air Force just three months ago, Don Chapman now flies for a commercial airline.
DON CHAPMAN: Now, I know she's young and I know she's only a freshman in college, but I think she's going to find herself very deeply involved in the continuing, what they're calling a continuing war against terrorism. And of course I'm concerned.
OSWALD: Mateen Afzal is deeply involved in the war against ignorance. A senior at C.U. and a member of the Muslim Students Association, some are attacking his beliefs. MATEEN AFZAL: Immediately I thought they're going to pinpoint this on, you know, the religion of Islam or some Muslim terrorists, Arab terrorists in some Middle Eastern country. So I knew that was going to happen immediately. I mean it's kind of the usual suspects, as they say on the news.
OSWALD: Mateen's family flew in from Philadelphia for parents weekend, the fourth time in four years, despite his mother's fear of flying.
BIRGITTA AFZAL: I even told Mateen on the telephone, I'm sorry, Mateen, but I may not able to make it this time because I'm so scared of flying. And he said, "Oh, mom, you're coming."
SYED AFZAL: As a parent, it is our duty to work with them and try to talk about these fears and how to look at the positive side of the thing.
OSWALD: Syed Afzal has a strong message for his son.
SYED AFZAL: A fear should not dictate our life. Optimism and hope and the hope, you know, of the mercy and blessing of the lord, you know, that is what we need.
OSWALD: More than 1,500 families face the challenge of travel to reunite this weekend.
ELIZABETH HOFFMAN, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: We need to remind ourselves and our children that these things do pass and that life cannot stop because of these things.
OSWALD: It's a weekend for respect and cheering in the football stadium. And a time to check out the new dorm room.
NICOLE CHAPMAN: This is my room, dad. This is my corner.
DON CHAPMAN: I know.
OSWALD (on camera): Parents weekend also includes the golf tournament, pep rallies and campus tours. But this year for many families there's something else not on the usual schedule, a rally for peace.
UNIDENTIFIED STUDENT: I will tell you that the emotion that is most prominent in me right now is fear. I'm very scared.
OSWALD (voice-over): Families also rallied for understanding and in these times of uncertainty, cling to what they are sure of.
MATEEN AFZAL: I am proud to be a Muslim in America. I mean, just to have the sense of freedom to practice my religion and the open, the general openness in the community and the supportiveness of the American public.
NICOLE CHAPMAN: I would die for this country. I love this country very much. And that is why I joined the ROTC. OSWALD: A celebration of school spirit and for these families in their first meeting since September 11, also a celebration of human spirit.
Stephanie Oswald, CNN, Boulder, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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