At 1 p.m. on Sept. 27, junior Annika O.* logged on to her computer and uploaded the slide deck she had worked on, all set to co-lead the first Book Club meeting of the year. It seemed like a normal day in Annika’s school schedule — except, a Category 4 hurricane was raging outside her house, flooding her basement.

Making landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area on the evening of Sept. 26, Hurricane Helene left a 500-mile path of destruction across the southern Appalachians. Nearly two weeks later on Oct. 9, Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s Gulf Coast as a Category 3 hurricane and devastated much of the region. 

Dozens of schools throughout the Southeast shut down during the hurricanes, with approximately one half of the school districts in Florida taking over a week to reopen after Hurricane Helene. As an online school with students and teachers located across the country, GWUOHS does not close for regional natural disasters. While this made it difficult for some students affected by the hurricanes to manage their schoolwork, others appreciated the flexibility provided by online school.

For Annika, leading the Book Club meeting and staying on schedule during Helene was a way to “take a breather” and enjoy the normalcy of school. After the second hurricane, however, she said it was difficult to get back into her regular routine while facing the reality of the disaster.

“I found it harder to get back into the swing of things after Milton,” Annika said. “It was difficult to just try and focus on doing school when I knew how much there was to do to try and recover. I’m still feeling the effects now, as in my effort to catch up, I sometimes [fall] apart again.”

Senior Teo S.*, who lives in western North Carolina, is another student whose area was affected by Helene. 

“Online school was horrendous during the hurricane, as deadlines progress no matter your situation,” he said. “My area is still devastated one month [after] the hurricane.” 

Despite acknowledging the challenges involved, Annika believes that attending online school allowed her education to be relatively less disrupted by the hurricanes. 

“If I had gone to public school, I might have been out for up to two weeks,” Annika said. “At GW, I just worked ahead the best I could both times, and while I’m still feeling the catching up I have to do, the teachers are giving me a lot of grace.”

Academic adviser Laura Nielsen emphasized the importance of practicing compassion during such situations. She explained how she prioritized supporting her students during the hurricanes, even sharing her personal phone number so that students could have someone to talk to.

“I don’t care what subject the person is teaching, it is not as important as compassion,” Nielsen said. “I don’t think there is a single assignment that should take precedence over kindness.”

*Last names withdrawn for student privacy, per school policy.

This story was originally published on GW Chronicle of the YAWP on November 14, 2024.