Those students that chose to return to campus did so this past week. For many of us this was the first time we had been on campus since before spring break, and ultimately before the tornadoes earlier in March.

The tornadoes swept from U.S Highway 431, down Alabama Route 204, through the main part of Jacksonville State University, and then into Georgia, leaving a significant amount of damage.

Aside from our academic buildings being damaged, neighbors of the college have lost cars, houses, and all their belongings. The greatest miracle of the entire event was that the university was on spring break when it happened. physical belongings can be replaced, but lives cannot and thankfully none were lost.

With the time being over a month passed, it is now for what most see, time to return to normal. Although we are returning to classes, beginning advisement, and even registering, it will never be the same.

We can take class after class but again, it will never be the same.

From the backside of the Houston Cole Library you can almost see Stone Center, this was never possible before, It is also a funny feeling driving over what used to be shaded roads, that are now in full sunlight. Trees around the International House totally gone, and even the sign is damaged. It's just oddness in the feeling of returning to school in what feels like a war-zone.

Martin Hall has asbestos warning signs up. It makes a person wonder how winds can destroy a building that has been standing for so long. It seems that some of the buildings have now be declared a loss. This is Such a sad time for such a friendly, and charming southern university. The State of Alabama has a law in place protecting historical monuments, markers, and buildings that have been built for a certain amount of time. This law declares that buildings must be rebuilt to their original specifications.

Although time may pass, flowers and trees regrow, buildings will be replaced, and sidewalks re-poured, things will never be the same.