I moved down to New Orleans from Iowa in August of 2009 to attend school and play basketball for the University of New Orleans. Being in Iowa, the only time I would hear about the damage done by Hurricane Katrina was when I turned on the news or opened a newspaper. The first time I came to New Orleans was on my recruiting visit in April 2009. One of the deciding factors for me to sign with the Lady Privateers was being able to play in Lakefront Arena. I would be apart of the first team to play in the arena since it was damaged by Hurricane Katrina. When the hurricane hit, the team consisting of 12 players and the coaches evacuated to Tyler, Texas. They used the facilities of UT Tyler to practice and continue playing their scheduled games. The team stayed in Texas for the entire fall semester, and retured to New Orleans for the spring semester. Since the arena was so heavily damamged, they played their games in the Human Performance Center with only 8 players. It was very inspiring playing a season with three of the seniors that experienced Katrina, knowing everything they had gone through. I could see how special it was to them to be back in Lakefront Arena, their real \"home\", for their final season of basketball.