Florence and the Countdown to College

In the wake of Hurricane Florence, many of our high schools closed for an extended period of time. With College Application Week (CAW) underway, advisors in closed schools are grappling with cancelation of their CAW plans and working to make the most of our time this week. College essay workshops, college rep visits, contests, parent nights, and more became infeasible. To the extent possible, we reached out to students and our communities.

“We were away from school for so long, I felt insensitive reaching out to teachers to see if they would allow me to take away their class time. Not only was it a possibility that the teachers would be struggling with loss from the hurricane, but I wanted to be sensitive of the fact that teachers would also be playing catch up once we were back in school.” – Jasmine

Balancing concern and sensitivity for our communities with an urgency to make sure students were not missing opportunities while being out of school was important. As CAW was approaching, we wanted an opportunity to be available to student in person. We spent time helping other advisors with their CAW events and many held office hours in other locations. For example, the Duplin County Advisors spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at James Sprunt Community College meeting with students and helping them with all things college. A sentiment shared by all of the displaced advisors I spoke to was that even if we weren’t able to meet with as many of our students, being able to work with our students again made it worthwhile.

Written by Michelle Chafin, College Adviser for North Duplin Jr. Sr. High School