This document summarizes three important events that shocked the student: 1) The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York, which the student learned about while watching TV at work. 2) The 1997 Acteal massacre in Chiapas, Mexico, where 45 unarmed civilians were killed while the student was on Christmas break. 3) Watching the beautiful opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympics with her daughter and being amazed by Michael Phelps' swimming performance as he won many medals.