Drake Hall

This is a bit of a random post, but it hits close to home for me, so I wanted to write a little something about it. As you may or may not know, when I went to UW-L, I lived in a dorm my freshman year. While I moaned and groaned about being in the one female-only dorm at the time (a dorm that no longer exists), I do have to credit my on-campus living experience for introducing me to one of my best friends in this world, Shawna. We were randomly assigned as roommates and ended up living together for nearly 4 years. For that, I am incredibly thankful. Anyway, because I had such a positive experience living on-campus, it made me incredibly sad to learn about a recent fire in one of the dorms on UW-L's campus. It took place in the basement of Drake Hall, and while no one was hurt (thank goodness), I had a really hard time looking at images of the damage. If you have time, watch the video, but otherwise the images are just below that.

Initially, students were told they could move back into the dorm relatively quickly, but after the damage was assessed, officials said the students had to live elsewhere for the entire semester. Talk about a total nightmare for the residence life folks on campus. Anyway, I think you'll understand why people can't move back once you see the pictures. The fire was contained, but the damage was far-reaching. Selfishly, I keep thinking about how upsetting and frustrating that would've been if it happened while I lived in a dorm. All your stuff is packed into a tiny room, and then you have limited time to get it out before the building's closed for the rest of the school year. Your "home" is essentially gone. Did I hate my tiny room at times? Hell yes. But was it my "home" in La Crosse? Absolutely. No one wants to lose their home, no matter how big or small it is. So, I guess I just wanted to say that I feel terrible for the people who've been dealing with this, and also that I'm proud of everyone at UW-L for handling a terribly unfortunate situation with such thoughtfulness and professionalism. In times of prosper, I'm proud to call UW-L my university, but in times like this, I'm even prouder. Go Eagles. :)