Students woke up to a really exciting email or text last week that said classes were cancelled.

Last Tuesday, students were informed that classes were cancelled due to the inclement weather to hit Hammond in the middle of the day. Weather reports across Southeast Louisiana were warning people about how bad the weather could possibly get. With some places expected to get worse weather than others, schools were cancelling classes in many places and not just the university. Residents were advised to stay under shelter because of the tornado watches/warnings and the terrible rain.

Students were given a day off and a day to catch up on work if need be.

“I did homework,” said freshman biology major Elizabeth Rousset. “I also drove to Subway in the bad weather and then watched Disney movies.”

Another student, on the other hand, had a very busy day.

“I finished my English homework, completed math homework, started studying for my history test and took a nap,” said freshman nursing major Michele Harder. “I was very productive. It was a blessing in disguise because I felt overloaded and sleep deprived. So, sleeping in and napping gave me the energy to finish all my homework finally.”

Some places got worse weather than others and people needed to get away from windows and doors.

“Well, I worked on lesson plans all morning,” said junior special education major Renee Navarre. “Then I went home to Laplace around 4:15. Then we got a bunch of tornado warnings so we took shelter. It turns out the tornado cut straight across Laplace and touched down about a block away from my house. I was lucky with no damage, some of my neighbors not so lucky. So, while other people may have been excited about having the day off, I was experiencing a much scarier day off.”

One student decided that his day off would be spent relaxing.

“I didn’t do anything exciting,” said sophomore communication major Justin Sabillon. “I just stayed inside and played 2k and watched Netflix.”

Unlike most students who did not set foot on campus on Tuesday, another student spent her day on campus being productive and then took time to relax.

“I studied in the Fayard computer lab,” said sophomore business administration major Macy Mouton. “Then I had lunch with my roommate in the cafeteria where literally no one was. Campus was so quiet. Then I went home to my dorm to watch ‘Pretty Little Liars’ marathon the whole afternoon.”

Although, some students were productive and others took the day to relax, this incident was a warning that we need to be prepared for anything Mother Nature can throw at us and sign up for Southeastern’s emergency alert system. To sign up for the emergency alert system please go to www.southeastern.edu/about/safe_campus/alert/.