Penn State student John C. Raynar huddled over his laptop computer wearing a respiratory mask in the shadow of the devastated World Trade Center today.

The senior telecommunications major painted the chaotic scene for a reporter the only way he could — via AOL Instant Messenger.

"This morning, I was laying in bed just waking up when I heard what sounded like a very low flying military plane," Raynar typed. "Then I heard a huge explosion. I looked out my window and saw scores of people running in away from the explosion. I then looked up and saw it was in flames."

Raynar woke up just one and a half blocks from the trade center in an apartment building on John Street. He's in New York City on a pair of internships with MTV and the Howard Stern Show.

Today was supposed to be his day off.

"All of what were once bystanders began fleeing. It was chaos; People were pushing one another over just to get away from the explosion," Raynar said.

About half an hour after the second plane exploded into the trade center, he decided to jump in the shower to prepare to escape north, away from the tip of Manhattan.

But he didn't get the chance to leave.

"That's when they collapsed. . . . It was like Ghostbusters; The entire sky turned pitch black," Raynar said. "Unfortunately, my windows were left open."

Dust and debris from the collapse piled up about three inches thick around Raynar's apartment, and came in through the open windows, he said.

"As a matter of fact, as I am typing this, I am wearing a protective mask, so I don't inhale too much of it," he said.

Raynar said a group of police officers and someone from the American Red Cross came through his building to pass out the masks.

A friend of Raynar, Mike Walsh (senior-Telecommunications), who is in State College, told The Daily Collegian that Raynar was talking to friends via online messaging and e-mail. Phone and cellular service in parts of downtown Manhattan were not working at the time.

Raynar was staying this afternoon with a neighbor, who is letting several other tenants stay with him, including a pregnant woman.

This is not the only time the Penn State senior has braved disaster this year.

During spring break in March, Raynar was attacked in an alleged gang-related incident in Miami. An assailant gouged his face with a broken beer bottle and Raynar lost his right eye.

"This has been a crazy year, man," he said. "I guess I have nine lives."