Remembering September 11th: My First Day on the Radio Was Also the Worst Day in American History

September 11th changed everything for all of us. I was 21 and doing the college thing. I had reached out to a radio group a few months earlier about an internship, but really wasn't doing much "on the air" like I really wanted to.

Fast forward to September 11th, 2001. My rollercoaster ride was about to begin.

I stayed in-state to go to college and lived at home, and I remember it like it was yesterday.

My mom came into my room and woke me up. She said in a serious, but still loving way "you need to come look at this." A flushed feeling came over me. I didn't know what I was going to be walking into.

As I walked to the next room (my parent's room) and looked at the TV, It was shortly after the second plane had hit tower no. 2. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, what I was hearing! I stood in disbelief as I saw the smoke billowing out of both towers.

I turned to my mom and saw tears streaming down her face. We both just hugged. We didn't know what to do.

I left the room after about 10 mins and the next thing I thought of doing was to turn on my radio. I remember being floored when I heard our Pop music station playing the news. I guess it didn't sink in that it was as big an event as it truly was. Maybe it was that I was still relativity naive at 21.

Another 10-15 mins passed and my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the phone number, but still answered.

"Hi Kenton, this is Jeff McCartney from KZHT Radio," the voice said. He told me that the next shift was a pre-recorded show, and, given the circumstances, he would need to have someone in the studio. He said: "Now, I know you're not an employee and have never been on the air, but I need you in here to help if you can."

(Now, a little inside on radio and how it's changed over the last 13 years. With computers being able to do so much, I guess they figured it could replace an actual person -- kind of like how you call somewhere and 80 percent of the time you have to talk to a computer. That was the direction the radio station was going.)

Long story short, my very first words said on a radio station were during the biggest tragedy next to Pearl Harbor. I knew there were hundreds of thousands of ears listening. Though I was only speaking in and out of commercial breaks, I was still the voice representing that station and company.

It was incredibly hard to keep my composure while listening to the events unfolding through the feed I was playing throughout the day. Or not be scared when another "Possible Terrorist Target" was announced.

I ended my shift at 3 p.m. that afternoon when a guy that I had listened to for years walked in to start his show.

"Good job, kid," he said. "Quite the first day to be on the air. Looks like you'll have something to remember."

I left the room and broke down in the hallway. I had sat in that room from 10-3 and listened to every second of that horrific day. I had no break from it. I couldn't leave the TV or just turn it off for a little while. We were the place to hear about it. But you know what? I wouldn't have had it any other way. I walked out of that radio station knowing my life had, was, and would be changed forever. On all levels.

Finally, I cannot say THANK YOU enough for the sacrifice of all the first responders and civilian heroes that terrible day. That thank you continues through today -- the 13th anniversary of 9/11 -- and forever in my heart. I always make it a must-do when I see a veteran to stop and truly thank them for their sacrifice. If it weren't for them, I could not be doing something as minor as writing this blog.