I have lived right outside of New Orleans my entire life. Evacuating for hurricanes has become something that you just do. As a kid, you really don’t know any better and tend to hope that you’ll get a break from school during the stretch between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and if you’re lucky maybe a few. I am no longer a child, but to be completely honest I was hoping for a few of those breaks. I am in my fourth year at the University of New Orleans (UNO), scheduled for 19 hours, not to mention working for the Student Activities Council (SAC), and babysitting when I could. I had no idea that my “break” would turn into a major storm, shifting my life into an alternate universe. \r\nMy first week of school went really well even though I was completely exhausted by the end of it. On Friday, August 26, 2005 SAC hosted our annual “Welcome Back Luau”. Around 7:15 pm, my good friend Shannon called me to see if I had heard about the storm that was heading straight for New Orleans. I had no idea what she was talking about and definitely did not have the time to figure it out. Luau went off without a hitch and we were done take down by 11:30 pm. I was in the Campus Activities office when my mom called to say that I should stop and get gas on the way home. She said prices had dropped and there were a good amount of people getting gas, also we weren’t sure how the hurricane was going to affect the oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. \r\nAfter the phone call from my mom I got online to get an update in the storm. When I clicked on nola.com the headline read “Governor Blanco declares State of Emergency”, and sure enough Katrina was coming to New Orleans. When everyone returned to the office we had a wrap-up meeting and talked about upcoming events. Even if we got the weekend off, I knew we would have events when we came back. \r\nOn the way home I stopped at the Discount Zone on West Metairie and Clearview, and it was good because I was getting close to empty. I filled up for $2.41 a gallon. When I got home I crashed.\r\nSaturday I woke up around 10:00 am. My friend Gina had a bridal shower scheduled for that afternoon. I called and found out that it was still on, so I did some laundry and got ready for the shower. The talk consisted of who was evacuating and where were they going. My brother Mark invited us to go stay with him and his wife, so I knew I was heading to Prairieville. After the shower I went home, took a nap, and then started packing. I knew, worst case scenario, I wouldn’t be able to go home for a few months, and I packed accordingly. I packed pictures, important documents, and items that I knew I would not be able to replace. I also packed t-shirts, jeans, some winter clothes, and some business clothes so that I could look nice if I had to go on a job interview. I was fairly well prepared.\r\nOn Sunday morning I woke up and packed my car, cleaned my room, and put things up high enough to escape any water that might come in. I was also tuned in to the latest on the hurricane and the evacuation process on the local news stations. I left my house a little after noon. I knew that it would not be the same when I returned. I got on the I-10 at Clearview and was immediately going contra-flow. The usual 45 minute drive to my brothers house took 3 ½ hours. It was strange because there were times when my speed got up to 70 miles per hour, but then we would come to a complete stop for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. \r\nI finally made it to my brother’s house, and the rain bands had started. About an hour later my parents arrived, we then ate dinner and were glued to the T.V. I went to bed and was out by 11:00 pm. On Monday I woke up around 7:00 am, everyone else was quick to follow. We were once again glued to the T.V. We ate pancakes as we watched Shepard Smith from Fox report from a balcony on Bourbon Street. It got to a point were all the news being reported was the same, so I went back to bed. When I woke up shortly after 11:00 am, I found out that we had lost power. We spent the day playing Monopoly and Scatagories, and I kept getting information in the form of text messages. The messages were mostly hear-say, but it was better than nothing. Monday evening came, Katrina was gone, and we still didn’t have power, so I suggested going out to eat for dinner. Everyone agreed that it would be a good opportunity to get into the air-conditioning and possibly find a T.V. that we could get some updated information from. We ended up at Bennigan’s by the Mall of Louisiana, it was the only place we could find open. \r\nOn Tuesday we went to my sister-in-law’s mother’s house to help clean up all of the tree branches in her yard. My other brother Dustin and I got stuck there a lot longer than we had planned, but we did get a lot accomplished. When we returned to Mark’s house the power was still out. I jumped in the shower and as soon as I was finished the power was restored. \r\nTo be completely honest, the rest of that week has become a blur of never ending news reports, updates from friends and family, and some emotional highs and lows. One of the lows came in not knowing where my 93 year old great-uncle was. Before the storm my grandmother went and tried to get him to evacuate. He refused and decided to stay at his house which is located on North Rampart. He had a neighbor that agreed to keep an eye on him, but we had no way of getting in touch with her. Towards the end of the week we found out that his neighbor came and got him, they evacuated to Mississippi; that was one of the highs. \r\nEveryday we would hear something different about if and when Jefferson Parish residents would be able to return. We found some satellite pictures online and quickly mastered the layout. We found our house and could see that the damage was minimal. We still couldn’t go home. We were told that we would be able to return on Labor Day to assess damage, salvage what we could (if damaged), but then we would have to leave for at least a few weeks so that electricity and the sewage system could be restored. On Labor Day we got up and began the trip back home. We avoided a lot of the traffic by taking River Road in. When we got into Jefferson Parish it was strange to see National Guardsmen stationed at every intersection. However, seeing them gave me a sense of security, especially after all of the reports of looting. As we drove into our neighborhood I was amazed at how bare everything was. Huge trees had been ripped to shreds. The wonderful shade that I had taken for granted was now gone. \r\nWhen we arrived home we discovered that the tree in out front yard fell across our driveway, missing our house completely. We also discovered some roof damage. It wasn’t anything that could not be fixed. My parents went to my dad’s jewelry store as my sister and I went through our stuff and decided if there was anything else we needed to take. My aunt invited me to go stay with her in Kansas; therefore I knew I would need a few more winter clothes. My mom and dad came back and reported that his store had about an inch of water, but they were able to clean it up without any trouble. \r\nThe crazy thing about the entire situation is that even though our house was fine our lives were still turned upside down. My parent’s are self-employed and as a result became momentarily unemployed. Since then my dad has been able to return to Metairie and re-open, and business seems to be steadily increasing. One-third of UNO flooded. Many students found themselves asking “What now? Should I enroll somewhere else or wait and see what happens?” I personally asked myself those questions. After all I have invested 3 years of my life at UNO, and just was not ready to give them up. What if I did enroll at another school? How would that affect my credits, financial aid, and TOPS? I quickly found out that UNO would be offering some courses for a shortened fall session. \r\nI am now in Kansas taking 15 hours in online classes. I have not been able to find a job, so I baby sit for some families in the area. I have gone from being extremely busy and barely being home to not having too much to do and barely ever leaving the house. I am enjoying spending time with my aunt and uncle here in Kansas, however I am completely homesick. \r\nThere is just something about New Orleans culture that you cannot find anywhere else, like the Southern Hospitality. Something I found interesting is when I go shopping in New Orleans, as soon as I enter a store I have like five employees telling me “hi” and asking if I need help. I cannot even tell you how many stores I have gone to in Kansas where my presence was not acknowledged. It’s very strange.\r\nEveryone’s experiences are different, and I know that I got off easy compared to most, but I hope we can all find comfort in knowing that we are not going through this alone.