Seattle students new to New York get a lesson in terror — and in a city's bravery

"The strangest thing," said Jill Filipovic, "was to see that huge column of smoke on TV, and then to look outside and see the exact same thing."

"I saw flames," said EunJean Song, "and a big hole in the building."

Seattle Times readers met 18-year-olds Filipovic and Song on this page a week ago, the day before hijacked airliners smashed into the World Trade Center. The article was about college freshmen leaving home for the first time, and the adjustments they need to make to a new life.

Filipovic, from Shorewood High School, and Song, from Garfield, had become brand-new New York City residents, attending New York University.

With last week's article, Filipovic was pictured packing a suitcase. She spoke about being excited and nervous about arriving in a vast city where she had no friends and no relatives.

But even the anxiety she and her parents shared couldn't have encompassed the enormity of what would take place last Tuesday morning just 20 blocks away.

"I told her to take winter boots and a winter coat. But I couldn't have prepared her for this," said her mother, Mary Filipovic of Shoreline, who waited an agonizing two hours by the phone to hear that her daughter was OK.

Jill Filipovic, who had no early class that day, slept through the first part of the attack.

"My roommate's dad called and said, 'Turn on the radio. It's a very sad day.' I looked out the window, where I had a view of the World Trade towers, and they were gone."

It was an experience being played out all across Manhattan, intensified by the sense of being far from loved ones.

Phone lines were jammed for a while, and when Jill finally reached her mother, "At first, she wanted me to come home right away. But I know she knew that wasn't possible."

Song said she felt fortunate to have some acquaintances around. Several other Garfield graduates are attending NYU, and several others were in New York for a visit because classes at the University of Washington hadn't started yet.

"This makes me want to stay here even more," Song said. "Even though this is supposed to be a big, cold, scary city, I've seen so many warm, positive reactions to what happened. People are taking care of one another."

Song's mother, Julie Pickering, said she's not surprised by her daughter's reaction. "She's a very independent person. I feel terrible the world's the way it is, but she'll learn a lot from this and be more empathetic about what's going on in the world."

Jill Filipovic, despite her proximity to the massive destruction, said her early concerns crossed the continent. "I figured the last place they'd come hit was a university residence hall. But I was worried they were going to hit big cities, and Seattle's a big city and my dad works downtown."

She had been starting to learn her way around the neighborhoods near Greenwich Village, where the university is located. "When you first get to college, it sort of feels like summer camp," she said. "And to have something like this happen was unbelievable."

Like Song, she is seeing a strong sense of kinship among her new neighbors. Her dorm held a food drive for those affected, and a blood drive nearby had donors lining up for hours.

In the days since the attack, Mary Filipovic, a nursing supervisor and disaster coordinator at Northwest Hospital, has been trying to get comfortable again with her daughter being far away and vulnerable.

"First I said, 'I just want you to come home.' It was an emotional reaction. Now I have mixed feelings. In my brain I think she needs to stay there, but in my selfish heart I want her to be home — but I also want her to be 9 years old again."

Jack Broom can be reached at jbroom@seattletimes.com or 206-464-2222.