Well, its’s that time of year again….students have already started moving in, band camp has started, RAs are here, and the apartments are surrounded by furniture being moved in and out.

I love Fall- as a season and as a quarter.  I love that the weather starts too cool off (theoretically) and all of my friends start returning.  LA is still hot right now, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will cool down soon.  Fall is also great because, like an elementary school student, I love the start of school….but up until Saturday I didn’t know if I would make it back in time to start Fall quarter of my senior year.

If you have been watching the news, you may have heard of the flooding in Colorado.  I, along with six other Bruins, were trapped in the middle of it.  We were at my grandparents’ cabin for a fun week of hiking and exploring, but the day before we were supposed to leave a dam broke leaving us stranded without electricity, water, and phones.  We were told we could be there for 3 days.  Then a week.  Then months.  Everyone who heard we were students said we would probably be late for classes.

After three days of rationed food and low water, the US Army showed up to lift us out.  It was nothing short of a miracle.  We were such a low priority area compared to the destruction in the rest of the state that we should not have been the ones to get out.  The elderly and sick got one of the first three chinooks that came, all the while being told that everything was weather dependent.  Finally, after a few claps of thunder and some light rain a fourth helicopter came to get the 7 of us who were left.  We were airlifted to a red cross shelter in Fort Collins.

By late Saturday night, I was back in LA and in my apartment.  I was so incredibly thankful to get back for the school year.  We had expected to hike the 30 miles down the mountain in a week or wait months to be evacuated.  I’m coming into this year with a new perspective and hoping I can use this experience in someway this year.

Hannah