A lot of us did not expect to have a pre-spring break in the middle of February, but ultimately that’s what happened as a whole university. “The winter storm displaced many of us, and forced us out of our daily routine.” 

Now, it wasn’t an actual spring break because of what happened across the state of Texas. Usually there’s a lot of traveling involved and for a lot of students the traveling that they did was bouncing from house to house in order to find a warm shelter.

Some of the unsung from the winter storm in my opinion has to be Residence Life. From the Director of ResLife to the RDs to the RAs, they were working from the start and then down to the finish when the storm was all said and done. ResLife had to handle dorms without power, water and burst pipes. We saw them communicate and lead like no other during these challenging times. 

When the power went out and the dorms without power weren’t livable, we saw them act fast and help find students a place to stay. Edwards Hall was available to help men and Gardner Hall was available to help women.

Whether that was with empty rooms throughout the building or setting out spare mattresses in the common areas or lobby, we saw them provide and take care of students by providing them with a place to stay.

When the City of Abilene didn’t have water, we saw ResLife partner with the Bean and help distribute water to various residence halls and provide water for students. With cases and even water jug dispensers in the lobby of every hall. 

When a pipe burst in Barret, we saw RAs from Barret and Edwards halls come together and save students’ belongings and use various types of equipment to help and clear out the building because the power wasn’t on at this point. 

This past week, Reslife was faced with a lot of challenges and at the end we saw them step up to the plate and handle everything that was thrown at them.