Ike

Ike in Houston

Lauren and I are sitting here in my apartment on campus. The winds are starting to pick up and there’s a huge tree here at the Nontraditional Student Housing complex that is concerning us because if one of the branches falls there’s no doubt that it will cause a lot of damage to the apartments bellow. 

Right now the rain and winds are not too bad. I just saw the radar and we’re on the edge right now of the storms but there’s no doubt that things are going to start getting worse soon. 

My family in Splendora and New Caney, which is in the Houston area, are without power but at least that is all that has happened because I was, and still am, concerned that they stayed home. At least my grandmother moved over to my mom’s house from her trailer so that was a good thing. 

 

Sat. IMG at the time of post

Shining Light

From the September 10 edition of The Current Sauce.

Saturday night I feared the worst.

Not that the Demons were going to lose their lead in the fourth quarter to the Lions of Texas A&M-Commerce, but what trouble Gustav could cause.

Horrible sights replayed from Katrina in my head and on the 24-hour news channels. Being from the Houston area, I did not experience what the storm brought to the City of New Orleans, but over the past two years I have heard more than my fair share of horror stories.

It was reassuring to see so many residents get out of harm’s way, and I hope that in the future they will not second-guess evacuating just because the storm may weaken.

The participants of the largest evacuation in history have to go somewhere and Northwestern State welcomed more than 500 evacuees along with more than 200 students from McNeese and the University of New Orleans in shelters operated by the American Red Cross.

I am proud of the way that our University welcomed evacuees along with making sure that students still on campus were safe and well-off if the weather would have gotten bad in Natchitoches.

In my last piece, I called for us to take ownership in our university and there is no better way to show that than volunteering valuable time. Student volunteers at the Red Cross Shelters like Brian, Ruth and Jeremy showed what our student body is made of: compassionate and caring individuals who are always willing to lend a hand to those in need.

Times of trouble bring out the best and worst of people. Students stepped up, showing our strong character, but we cannot just show that in times of dire need.

Let’s challenge ourselves to volunteer whenever we can. Push back those Saturday plans of two hours on the xBox or Facebook and lend a hand at the Boys and Girls Club or join Demon Volunteers In Progess.

I say this like it’s easy to commit yourself to even a couple of hours a week.

It’s not. I have been trying to make time to volunteer at the Natchitoches Association of Retarded Citizens for over a year now and it’s not easy to do, but I feel that now is better than never and plan on heading over there Monday to sign up.

The thing we have to remember is to make sure we enjoy volunteering our time, otherwise it’s not worth it to us or the people we are trying to help.

Although Gustav was not as bad as we thought it would be, we cannot forget our friends and classmates impacted by the storm and be there for them however we can.

Through all the chaos though, one thing that pierced through the clouds is the amazing spirit of NSU, and I am honored to call every student my classmate.