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Surviving Katrina: In Grad School After Culture Shock

Photo credit: Josh Halley/Southern University Danielle Haney said she returned to Xavier because she was in love with the school and missed friends.

By Rebecca K. Roussell
Black College Wire

In August, Danielle Haney moved to Philadelphia to enroll in the doctoral program in immunology at University of Pennsylvania. It’s a big move for the Zachary, La., resident, but one that is intended to fulfill her dreams.

Last year at this time, she was on the move, too, but back then Hurricane Katrina and floods were to blame.

For a time, Haney said, the disaster took away the excitement and anticipation about graduating from Xavier University in Louisiana, one of several Gulf state colleges and universities forced temporarily to close in fall 2005.

Just days before Katrina struck, Haney had taken the GRE. “My mind was just already set on graduate school,” Haney, 21, said. “I was just removed.” Haney had been in school only for a week when Katrina threatened New Orleans and parts of the Gulf Coast. She had ridden out hurricanes before, but something about Katrina did not feel right. So, she packed to evacuate immediately.

“That day it just felt weird, and she did not look like she was turning,” Haney said. Haney kept track of the storm from Zachary, La., her hometown. For a time, there was no word from Xavier about classes being cancelled; communications had been hampered and students and faculty scattered.

So when Haney enrolled at Louisiana State University on Sept. 7, she did not plan to be there the entire fall 2005 semester.

Haney said she did not try to make new friends at Louisiana State University, and sometimes she did not feel welcomed. That year, there was a controversy over the purple and gold Confederate flag flown at university football games. She said she felt she was just a social security number at that school. She went to class and then went home; at Xavier, she had always remained on campus and hung out with friends.

“It was kind of like a culture shock,” she said. Still, Haney said, she was focused on graduating on time and would not let the hurricane hinder that goal. She applied for graduate school by the end of November 2005 and kept studying. She returned to Xavier when classes resumed there in January 2006 and completed her studies in April. Her graduation was scheduled for August, so Haney had about four months to reflect on the unexpected turn her senior year took due to the storm. She graduated Aug. 15 with a bachelor of science degree in biology.

Haney said recently that she returned to Xavier because she was truly in love with her institution and missed her friends. Katrina taught her to cherish her friendships and be thankful, because nothing lasts forever, she said. It also taught her the importance of giving back to the school that gave her four years of memories.

“A little goes a long way,” Haney said.

Rebecca K. Roussell is a 2006 graduate of Dillard University.

Posted Aug. 29, 2006