Coming from New York City, my friends created an organization called New York to New Orleans (NY2NO). This allowed high school students from New York to volunteer after Katrina, which involved rebuilding houses and speaking with the community about the devastation. After taking two trips during my February break and Spring break of my senior year I moved to the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans a week after I graduated high school and volunteered for an organization called Lowernine.org. I lived in a house of 20 sharing a room with seven others, sleeping on bunk bed air mattresses. During my year off I spent a few months volunteering for this organization and learned more in this short amount of time than I have in my whole life, about myself and the world around me. This experience has led me to become a student in New Orleans and feel at home, away from home.
This picture is an example of the devastation Katrina left with the water level being so high. I took this picture in 2008.