There is so much to take into account with what happened in 2005. I was living in St. Bernard parish and attending Archbishop Hannan for a most anticipated senior year. When I found that there was a hurricane coming, I packed a weekend\'s worth of clothes and my school bag, so that I could finish a paper due that Monday. Needless to say I was never going back home, to school, or to my entire life as I knew it. I lost out on my senior year, the dance team, football games, dances and everything that goes into making a senior year worth waiting for. In addition to losing all of our material things, the death of my grandmother hit my family the hardest.\r\n Due to nursing home evacuations and an already dire situation, the news of her death came after three months of not knowing where she was. Although heartbreaking, the news provided closure to my family during these uncertain times.\r\n My family and I evacuated to Dallas, Texas, when Hurricane Katrina hit land. With up to fifteen feet of water Katrina flooded my entire house, school and community. The bitterness I feel toward the hurricane is the fact that my life was abruptly washed away. There was not a single thing or person to blame and nothing left to do but look forward to what comes next. \r\n I suppose I look back now and wonder how I dealt with all that was thrown my way. The reality was that I was forced to survive in a new world entirely. I have always tried to look at the positive side of any situation. Through this traumatic experience, I have developed lasting relationships with people I would have never met otherwise. I\'m the person I am today because of all I went through. It was an unfortunate obstacle I had to overcome. I\'ve learned it is not how or when we fall from things in life, it\'s the way we rise from them that matters most!