Let me preface this by saying that the past two days have been two of the most frustrating in months. For one, both Friday and Saturday night, hundreds of students were evacuated from my residence hall after midnight and waited outside for hours due to foolish decisions on the part of other residents. Last night in particular, a water pipe was tampered with, and from the sixth floor down the building was flooded. Even the ceiling tiles in the lobby were destroyed and leaking water into big buckets. We weren’t allowed to sleep in our rooms and some residents had such bad water damage that they have to be relocated until repairs are complete. My best friend and I went to bed at around 3:45 a.m. on the floor in one of the academic buildings. Everyone was annoyed beyond reason, myself included. And rightly so.

Despite all the anger that there was last night over the situation, I have to say that there were small glimmers of hope, love, and people trying to make the best of the night (or early morning) all around us. Strange as this may sound, my residence hall community made me proud last night. We pulled together trying to be supportive of each other and our respective situations. We all wanted to go back to our warm beds and end the night. There were a few individuals that should be recognized for attempting to alleviate the situation and its impacts on the Schroeder community. This is what I would like to do.

Here are a few of the moments that made me proud:

1. The Resident Assistants stepped up the plate and were sympathetic and informative about what was going on.
2. The MUPD/Department of Campus Safety handled the situation with kindness and tried to be empathetic towards the residents. They're some of my favorite people on campus and if you talk to them before you go to bed at night you will see why.
3. The students who had relocated to O'Donnell Hall had a dance party upon move-in. It was the first time I laughed in hours--thank you, boys.
4. Friends brought snacks outside with them and offered them to disgruntled residents. Heads up, Chex Mix is a good (past) midnight snack.
5. One young man walked around offering his jacket to cold strangers.
6. Office of Residence Life and custodial staff came over to the building during the night to help clean up so students could get back to bed.
7. Friends, friends of friends, strangers, and other students offered up anything they had--couches, futons, pillows, blankets, and floors to crash on, but overall for most, a place to spend the night. In many cases these students woke up between the hours of 3-5 a.m. to do so.
8. Greek unity was brought to life. Many students involved in Greek life were offered a place to sleep not only in their respective houses, but also in the houses of fellow fraternities and sororities.
9. Qdoba and other popular places to pick up a quick meal on campus pushed through the late night to take on the extra influx of kids so close to closing time.
10. All Schroeder residents were wishing the best for those around them, and being supportive to those on the damaged floors.

Was last night a bad situation? Yes, it really was. But outside of the events, I am so proud of the type of students and staff workers that we have at my university. Good people are everywhere, you just have to look for them.