I am from baton rouge but i moved to new orleans about 5 years ago to go to uno. After 2 years here i moved off campus a few blocks away from my aunts house ( she lives on bullard). Me and my aunt never leave for storms cause of her job and my school. Jobs and schools don\'t ever tell you until the last minut ( when its too late) that class is cancelled or workers don\'t need to come in; however since my dad had just flown in from out of town i already had plans to leave new orleans and go to baton rouge. I didn\'t bring anything except for my dog, i figured i would be back soon. \r\n...\r\nThe morning after the storm i woke up and heard that the area i lived in was \"completely destroyed\". Let me tell you that is a horrible thing to wake up to. \r\n... \r\ni went to register at LSU. Not many classes were availible since lsu did not have access to anyone transcipt, but they told us to go ahead and take whatever cause these random classes will transfer into something. Well they didn\'t ( that semester was a complete waste of my time) i could have spent more time on getting my life straight rather than taking classes that were useless.\r\n...\r\nwhen i finally went to my apartment only my sofa and end tables were messed up. the water did not sit like it did in most areas, it kind of just ran through my street and wet things so that it got moldy. My aunts house on the other hand was horrible. i couldn\'t believe that only a few blocks down the street and the effects were so totaly different. her floors were thick with mud and God knows what else. Out of all the things she lost the one thing i never thought about were the pictures. Its hard to see all of your family pictures ruined. My aunt no longer has images of her boys graduating, her boys first pictures, her wedding day etc. \r\nAfter the storm your first instinct is to worry about the big things but you forget the little nic nacks that you get over the years that are important to you. Now they are just GONE.\r\n...\r\nIn March i had to find a room to rent because drivign back and forth from baton rouge to new orleans for school was getting to be too much . I found a room in a house with 3 other men. It was disgusting living with three men, even if it was just for a month. i was glad to move back into my apartment in april. After moving in i realised that they had not rewired the cable or phone lines yet. \r\nNow i am still in my apartment with no phone no cable and no internet, which is hard because a lot of teachers are putting more assignments online and things like that. Aside from being bored simple things still aren\'t back to normal. Only two of my friends moved back to new orleans since the storm, everything closes once the sun goes down, and probably because of stress my head aches almost every day since the storm. I am also haveing more trouble with retaining information. I forget so much stuff and that not only effects my ability to manage my life but my grades are way lower than what i am used to. \r\nMy mom always tells me that with the money from fema and everything i came out better but i would give that money back in a heartbeat just to have everything back to the way it was before. I am not ready to leave new orleans, because it isn\'t what it used to be. Nothing is the same. Everything is so shifty and everyone is so tired and stressed new orleans is no longer the big easy, nothing is easy or relaxed anymore. everything has changed and even though i am back at my school and back in my apartment i still feel like i am not home. Its hard not having a place you can call home.