From dorm room to suite to townhouse then the beach and now back to dorm room? The last place I thought I would be during my senior year of college is in a sophomore dorm with three of my friends in a tiny bedroom; however, Sandy apparently thought otherwise.

After hearing the hype about hurricane Sandy two weeks ago I honestly thought people were exaggerating how big of a storm Sandy was going to be. So, instead of evacuating the beach by 10 a.m. on the Sunday of Sandy’s arrival my roommates and I lounged around as we would do every other weekend. Finally, as the wind started to pick up we realized it was time to throw as much stuff as we could in our cars and leave.

It wasn’t until Tuesday of that week that I finally realized everyones “exaggerations” about Sandy were spot on. Sitting on my roommate’s couch, watching pictures from Fairfield beach flood Facebook, reality finally set in that Sandy may be the end of our senior year at the beach. This reality was hard to face. Since freshman year at Fairfield the class of 2013 has dreamt about living at the beach and all the fun, exciting things our last year in college would bring, the things Sandy threatened to take from us.

By Thursday my roommates and I finally made our way back to Fairfield. Our arrival was greeted with a situation worse than I had expected. As we began driving down Rowland Road to get to our house we stopped with about half a mile left and four feet of water flooding the road. This flooding was not only on Rowland but every other street leading down to our beach prohibiting us from seeing the condition of our house.

Finally on Friday we made it back to our house and were surprised and relieved to see our house, The Blarney Stone, still standing. Only suffering from a damp carpet and driveway full of sand our fears were relieved to know Sandy did not destroy our home. However, we still could not permanently stay. The storm caused Fairfield beach to lose power, have possible gas leaks, and withstand major flooding threatening potential danger for residents.

As the upcoming Monday approached with classes starting, no house to live in and a permanent home to far to commute from many beach residents faced a predicament. Thankfully, Fairfield University came to a speedy and efficient rescue. Seniors in need of permanent housing filled out a survey and a few days later were placed somewhere on campus, many with their housemates. The seniors at the beach chose to live off-campus. Fairfield University did not owe us housing, but they decided to help and home the class of 2013 for free, in their time of need.

For the rest of the students who are not part of the beach living senior class, they may not have lost their college home but they maybe experiences new neighbors or roommates. Because of this, it is not just the class of 2013 who had their college experience affected by hurricane Sandy, but the entire Fairfield University community.

As someone who experienced it firsthand as a beach resident and now a temporary member of the McCormick community, I want to thank Fairfield University and all the other students for their help during this time. Hopefully Sandy did not displace the seniors at the beach for very long and life as we all know it can go back to normal in the near future.

About The Author

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.