Most people aren’t still talking about the unpaid internship they had in college. More often than not, the opportunity, albeit educational and perhaps chock full of fun memories, was a quiet footnote on their road to success and might not have made the cut on even the most detailed resume. But for Page Austin, hers wasn’t your ordinary internship.
For starters, she interned at the White House. The year was 2001, and at one point that semester, she had access to then-President George W. Bush’s schedule and assisted with his daily political briefings. There’s even a picture of her shaking President Bush’s hand.
He was thanking her and other interns and staffers—naturally, Austin was grinning from ear to ear.
“It was the first time I had stood that close to the President,” Austin said.
That photo has continued to make the rounds over the years—in middle school history classes that Austin is routinely asked to speak to in Argyle, among friends and family, on her personal Facebook page, and especially in a blog post she wrote and reshares around this time every year. After all, it is a constant reminder of one of the most defining and heartbreaking moments in United States history.
Barely a few weeks earlier, on September 11, 2001, the nation was overcome by a series of coordinated assaults by the Islamic-extremist group al-Qaeda. Forever known as 9/11, the unfathomable events that day saw four commercial airplanes hijacked, two of which flew into the World Trade Center towers in New York—causing their collapse. The third plane struck the Pentagon, roughly three miles from where Page was beginning her day in Karl Rove’s Political Affairs Office. She said everyone felt the ground shake as it happened. The fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to bravely overcome the hijackers.
The attacks led to nearly 3,000 deaths—instantly making it the deadliest terrorist attack in human history. It also led to significant global consequences, including the War on Terror, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and a profoundly reshaped national security policy.
“As I made my way to the cafeteria one morning, I saw President Bush standing at the door shaking hands and thanking his staff and the interns for their dedication to serving the American people,” Austin said. “What I remember most was how grateful he was for the staff who would put their lives in danger to work in a place that is a target in order to make our country better.”
She added, “No one wants to be a wartime President, but those were the cards he was dealt. I remember my dad wanting to pick me up and take me home. But I knew I needed to stay. It was exactly where I needed to be.”
Austin is a long way from the White House and politics these days. Her internship was only for the fall semester in 2001, though she returned in June of 2002 to work for the Bush Administration after graduating from college. After the Bush Administration, she worked for a global PR firm and made her way to Texas before settling down as the Lifestyle Manager and do-it-all, fun-loving girl around town for the Harvest by Hillwood community in Argyle.
But hearing her talk about 9/11 evokes a riot of emotions—from the people listening and the person telling it.
As the story goes, Austin was 22 when she got her internship. And her day on September 11, 2001, started just like the rest of them. She walked in the door around 6:30 a.m. and began reading newspaper after newspaper, from Florida to New Mexico, to help compile the President’s daily political briefings on top news issues. She needed to rip through that assignment quickly, as she was also tasked with finalizing details for his event schedule later in the day.
President Bush was in Sarasota, Florida, at the time, as was Austin’s boss. So, everything was pretty quiet—that is, until 8:46 a.m.
That’s when Austin, who glanced up at the TV nearby, saw American Airlines Flight 11 hit the North Tower.
United Airlines Flight 175 hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m.
“I remember thinking, ‘That’s awful.’ But I didn’t really process what was happening and immediately went back to work,” she said. “Then the second plane hit. Mr. Rove called me and said, ‘America is under attack. Pull the fire alarm and evacuate the White House.’ Just as I was about to pull the alarm, we felt the ground shake. We ran to the balcony and saw smoke coming from the Pentagon.”
She and a few interns ran roughly three blocks and ultimately stopped near a building with several TVs showing through giant windows.
“We got about four blocks when we heard that the World Trade Center had collapsed,” she said. “The interns and staff circled up and just started praying and crying. We were scared and didn’t know what to do. Our phones didn’t work, so we couldn’t contact our families back home. We all lived in a dorm right across from the Capitol Building. We were afraid to go home in fear that the Capitol would be attacked, so we walked to Georgetown. We found an open pub and gathered around the television to watch the horrific scenes that unfolded that morning. I will never forget seeing people jumping from the towers. I couldn’t comprehend what was going on.”
Page went on to recount that everyone was petrified to go back to work the next day. Security had changed overnight and was incredibly tight with a four-block restriction to the White House. And because interns only had temporary staff badges, they had to be escorted by White House staff. Bomb threats became a constant as the week progressed, to the point where it was becoming normal to have to grab your bag and run out the door.
In the weeks, months, and years that followed, Austin said she continued doing whatever duties were asked of her.
She was there when President Bush spoke at a special ceremony at the Pentagon. She was also at the Washington National Cathedral for a 9/11 remembrance for the thousands of lives lost that day. Upon graduating from Mississippi State, she returned to Washington in a politically appointed position at the U.S. Department of Energy. She worked there for a year before accepting a job working in Laura Bush’s small but mighty projects and policies office from 2003 to 2007 in the East Wing of the White House.
“It was intense, but it was also fun. Working with them for over six years, I have seen how they care for people and want to make America and the world a better place,” she said.
Looking back, it’s no wonder why Austin continues to share her experiences from her internship and subsequent time in the White House. They shaped her into the woman she is today, and they gave her a genuine appreciation for life, family, our political leaders, our community, and America.
“For me, it’s about creating positive change in people’s everyday lives,” she said. “I get to do that daily as a lifestyle manager, and I’m always happy to share my experiences with anyone willing to listen—especially the next generation.”
To read Austin’s full post about 9/11, visit www.harvesthoa.com/harvestblog/2015/9/10/911-a-white-house-story.
