Amy Panikowski was 22 and in Malawi on a Peace Corps mission on Sept. 11, 2001.
Her Malawian landlord told her the news as it trickled into the small East African country - New York was gone - blown off the map.
Today on International Day of Peace, just after the world commemorated the eighth anniversary of that "new day of infamy," Panikowski, a UF Peace Corps recruiter, is unsure whether America has made much peaceful progress since then.
"I'd like to be an optimist and hope that world peace will happen one day," Panikowski said. "It's a slow process, but I don't think it's something we can't do."
In an effort to meet the goal of Panikowski and others with peace in mind, International Day of Peace, a U.N.-established holiday, was designed to end global conflict and promote a greater sense of world peace celebrated every Sept. 21.
Mercedes Machado, director of multicultural affairs at UF, started UF's first peace day celebration this year in hopes that it will continue in the future and contribute to the worldwide peace effort.
"Hopefully this is an event where a whole different group of people can come together," she said of the kickoff celebration Sunday night, which included a performance from UF a cappella choir No Southern Accent, a poetry reading from local poet Marcee Winthrop and a closing vigil where a moment of silence was observed.
Winthrop, the self-described "Poverty Cinderella," read from her self-published collection of poems and commentary, "Poverty Revolution."
While both Panikowski and Machado mentioned domestic struggles, including women's suffrage, the civil rights movement and the gay rights movement, as signs of peaceful improvements, both remain optimistic about the future of peace.
Winthrop pointed to a lack of understanding as the biggest threat to world peace.
"I think this next generation is going to get sick and tired of being sick and tired," Winthrop said.
Panikowski offered a suggestion to students.
"Try to learn as much as you can," she said. "Education doesn't stop when you leave this university."
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