A student's New Orleans trial
This account, by Bobbie Beyer of Lexington, is one of several by local people affected by Katrina.
At 10 a.m. on Aug. 27, the day of freshman orientation at Tulane University, my parents arrived at the dorm room where I had been living for a week. As we were unpacking suitcases, someone knocked on the door, and said: ''There's a mandatory meeting at 1 p.m."
We kept unpacking. I asked my mom to go downstairs to find a CD I needed for my laptop. When she came back, she said, ''We need to have a family meeting."
Apparently, this mandatory meeting was about the hurricane headed for New Orleans. She said the campus would be evacuated, but the residence halls would open again on Wednesday.
Just a few days, right? I threw a couple of changes of clothes and a towel into a suitcase. We hopped into our rental car, called friends from Houston, and hit the road.
The usually five-hour drive from New Orleans to Houston took us 13 this night. When we got in at 3 a.m., I crashed.
By the time I woke up, Katrina had progressed to a Category 5. When my dad told me that I wouldn't be going back to school until Sept. 7, I was shocked.
He spent two hours on the phone that morning trying to get us tickets home. After waiting on the runway for two hours on Monday afternoon and almost missing our connecting flight in Chicago, we finally made it home, only to turn on the news and realize there was no way I was going to back to school in a week.
Friends of mine started looking at other schools for the semester. I didn't want to do anything before I heard from Tulane, but it was starting to look hopeless.
My friend Alice goes to Tufts, and she called me saying, ''Bobbie, come to Tufts! Wouldn't that be cool?" Yeah, really cool. Tulane is the only school I applied to, and the only school I've ever wanted to attend. I went to Tufts with my high school transcript and proof that I had paid Tulane.
They put my name on a list. They were very open and enthusiastic, but they were unwilling to tell me anything certain. They don't know how many students they can accommodate.
Hopefully I will be spending the semester at Tufts, but I have also called BU, Brandeis, and Babson.
On Tuesday, I started working at the Red Cross, doing what I could to help those who have suffered much more than I ever will. These days, I am wearing borrowed clothes, wondering what I am going to do this year.
After applying early and being accepted in December, I was the first of my friends who knew where I was going to college, and now I'm the last one left trying to figure things out.
How has Katrina changed your life? Please send comments to globenorthwest@globe.com. 
