The last thing I expected to start my day with on February 10th was a slew of texts and emails panicking about a supposed “bomb” on my college campus. Instead of making coffee and straightening my bed, as I usually do in the mornings, I sat glued to my phone, waiting for an update on the situation. Was it safe to go to class? If not now, when would it be? What was the College of Charleston doing to address the situation?

While campus security definitely wasn’t sitting idly by as the situation unfolded, their methods of communicating updates on the status of the safety of campus and attending classes weren’t up to par. After I’d received three phone calls and three emails from Cougar Alert, each containing a conflicting message, I got desperate. When the CofC Twitter account also proved fruitless, I knew I only had one place left to turn. I went to the word of the masses: Yik Yak.

The app has gotten a lot of flack in the past for cyber-bullying related incidents, but it proved its worth today as I was able to ask questions and consult a live feed of updates from College of Charleston students who’d talked to Public Safety, or who lived in dormitories in proximity to the threatened area. Today, I bring you Yik Yak’s most popular posts of the afternoon, in light of the crisis on the College of Charleston campus:

1. "They need to provide an explanation why they initially thought it was a bomb." This was the question on everyone’s brain, all afternoon. Is it real, or not, and if not, where did the suspicions come from?
2. "After this emotional distress of being told there's a bomb, then saying never mind, walking through caution tape and cops with rifles. I need a glass of wine, or maybe a shot. You paying McConnell?" Because last year we got four days off when it got a little cold out one time.
3. "Stay inside but if you skip class it's unexcused." Mixed signals: the Cougar Alert emails said something along the lines of “prepare immediately for possible evacuation,” whatever that ambiguous terminology means. Cue student confusion and annoyance.
4. "Because of this bomb threat I have checked my school email today more times than I have all year." If there’s one thing we all learned today, it’s to pay more attention to what the multitudes of emails constantly coming from campus say.
5. "The guy in charge of Cougar Alerts should become a weatherman or some other job where it's cool to be wrong all the time." It was a bomb threat, no real bomb. Come on, Cougar Alert!
6. "Can't attend class tomorrow, suffering from PTSD due to CofC's poor emergency management planning." President McConnell released an email later in the afternoon that they're addressing the faulty alert system and crisis management plan that was already in place. Does that change the fact that today was a disaster? Unfortunately, it does not.
7. "I want Chic-Fil-A so bad but I also don't wanna die." Please oh please don’t take away our Chic-Fil-A.
8. "Me: there's a bomb threat here in Charleston. Mom: is it Isis? Me: no, just CofC." Many parents weren’t even aware there was a situation until brought to their attention by their kids. Another fault in Cougar Alert - not all desired constituents were reached.
9. "Kinda crazy how King Street is shut down yet campus is not." Police officials asked shop owners close to campus to shut down for the day to decrease traffic as they searched for the bomb; meanwhile, students received emails explaining that most classes would carry on as usual.
10. "Shout out to the parking enforcement heroes who risked their lives to ticket cars." Meter maids: do less. 
11. "Our campus is literally on two streets... I think they can play it safe and cancel classes." Another large cause for concern was the impending possibility of potential detonation and what the radius of an explosion may be. It is a city, after all.
12. "Thank you to all the officers and others who risked their lives today to protect us. We don't give you enough credit." Because they do deserve some credit. They did their best, given the circumstances.
13. "Go to class!... but also stay inside where you are... Okay College." Again with the mixed signals: we're all still trying to figure out who thought "prepare immediately for possible evacuation" were clear directions.
14. "Leave your backpack, my professor said. We'll be right back, he said." News channels brought us reports of students who had apparently been told to leave their classrooms immediately, by professors, and that there was no time to gather belongings. Cue students locked out of... everything.
15. "Makin my way downtown, cops run past, still got class, can I leave now." Because the only way to end the day right is with a good laugh.