VoW: Message from an Evacuee

Hello, Janet!

Thank you so much for writing to me. Currently, my friend and I are trying to stick together and work out what we're going to do next. The day before yesterday I went to attempt to enroll at UNT (in Denton, Texas) with no luck at all. They basically gave me the run-around and asked different for fees such as applying for housing and registering for classes before they'd be willing to help me out. Here's the list of things I currently own (the rest of my belongings are safe but unreachable back at my university):

- My backpack with a few days' worth of clothing and hygenic products

- Two bedsheets

- A company poncho my dad gave me

- Two pairs of shoes

- My script

- C.S. Lewis' "The Magician's Nephew"

And that's about it. After my unsuccessful experience at UNT, I gave LSU a call on a whim to see if they could be of any assistance. Turns out that they are taking in displaced students and waiving the application and tuition fees, and are even attempting to house the students (although amount of availability is presently unknown to me).

and I had taken refuge in Prairieville, Louisiana in the house of the kind and generous family, but I headed back to Texas thinking would be returning home to Florida the following day. It also turns out that 's mother refuses to let her come home and will cut her off financially unless she enrolls in another school for the fall semester, LSU being the first school in mind.

So currently, I am back home in , Texas in the company of my family and friends while is still stranded in Prairieville. However, this coming Tuesday she plans to go to LSU (in the company of her cousin that lives in Baton Rouge) and explain everything that I am telling you and literally beg them to give us a place to stay. A lot of my fellow colleagues and friends are either just as lost as the two of us, or are being ushered off to places unknown.

and I are really putting our hopes into LSU currently and are awaiting Tuesday morning after she has met with admissions. And until we know what we are doing next, I will ask nothing of you. But please keep and myself in mind. As soon as we know what our next move is, we will be more than willing to gratefully and humbly accept whatever you can give. Thank you again SO much for writing me!

Sincerely,




[And a second message...]


Thank you again, Janet! I'm leaving for Prairieville tonight by Greyhound. called me this morning and said that she and her mother think our chances would be greater if we were both present, and I definitely agree. If LSU doesn't work out, it's clear that we have other options. And I'll definitely be in touch! Thanks again!

~