By james art Thursday, October 24, 2024 | 9:49 p.m
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — On a recent Friday, Ari Cohen and three friends — all seniors at Asheville High School — gathered to play UNO at his house, next to a pile of bottled water in his living room.
It’s been weeks since they and thousands of other students were in the classroom due to the devastation of Hurricane Helena, which left a massive tree leaning against Cohen’s house. Without reliable cell or internet service, students in hard-hit Asheville are finding other ways to pass the time — whether it’s volunteering, exploring hurricane-ravaged parts of the city or playing board games.
“We hung out almost every day,” said Nathaniel Durham, one of Cohen’s friends. “We haven’t gotten sick of each other, though.”
The storm disrupted schooling for students of all ages in western North Carolina, but it came at a particularly delicate time for high school seniors making major life decisions — deciding what to do after graduation and applying to colleges. Meanwhile, they reminisce about their senior year in high school while analyzing the impact of the disaster on their communities.
Some families evacuated after the storm, enrolling at least temporarily in schools elsewhere. Students trying to fill out college applications face difficulties with internet, cell service and basic transportation. For others who may have been on the fence about higher education, the crisis has added new challenges.
Remnants of Helen struck on September 27. Asheville, North Carolina’s largest mountain city, was largely cut off as roads were washed away or blocked by mudslides. Six school districts in western North Carolina were still closed as of Thursday, according to the state.
The Asheville City School System will reopen with a shortened four-hour day Monday, according to its website. Manager Maggie Fehrman said the system will explore drilling wells and bringing in toilet trailers while the city’s devastated water system is still being repaired. The Buncombe County school system was also scheduled to return Friday with a two-hour delay.
But even with classes resuming, uncertainty remains for Cohen and others. He planned to graduate early, in part to recover from hip surgery scheduled for December. That’s still the general plan, Cohen said, but he’s not sure if the schedule will change.
Helen’s impact complicates college applications
One of Max Shantz’s first concerns was applying for a college scholarship, due a few days after Helena blasted the Southeast. The senior at Asheville’s School of Investigation and Life Sciences had no cell or Internet service over the weekend, so he went to a library that had Wi-Fi to work on his essays. He sat outside the closed building for about two hours with about 80 other people, hoping to use the Internet.
Shantz’s family left Asheville days later for Miami because his father had to telecommute. But time was running out on Shantz’s application. Then, checking his email at a rest stop, Shantz was relieved to see that the deadline had been extended.
Schantz later decided to discuss the hurricane’s impact on Asheville in his application — something he had been mulling over for some time.
“It was really hard because I didn’t know if a college admissions officer would want to hear that or not,” he said.
Although school buildings were closed, Buncombe County Schools and Asheville City Schools held drop-in sessions in October to help students with the college admissions process. Counselors offered help with writing essays, filling out financial aid forms and using the Common App.
Abe Gary, one of Cohen’s friends, got help from one of the sessions. He was concerned about getting teacher recommendations in time for his application, but said most of the colleges he applied to were lenient toward Western North Carolina students.
Another setback came when Helene canceled his date to retake the SAT in hopes of a higher score.
“I was disappointed just because I thought if I did good it could definitely help me,” Gary said.
Some adults say they are “definitely not well”
School disruptions are familiar to seniors who have navigated the isolating COVID-19 pandemic as they transition into high school. Now they are struggling with a similar problem.
Caroline Barton said things weren’t quite the same after the pandemic, and Helen added to the feeling that she never had a normal high school experience.
She also struggles with Helen’s survivor’s guilt because her home wasn’t destroyed like some of her peers’. Her teachers have allowed students to talk openly about their experiences, which has helped.
“I don’t know anyone who died. My family is safe. Our house is fine. Our yard is fine. We have cars that work,” she said. “But I’m definitely not okay.”
During the first week back at Carolina Day School in Asheville, Barton said many other seniors were stressed about college admissions and what the school would bring.
“It’s a really stressful time for adults in general, and then you throw a hurricane on top of it,” Barton said.
Barton, who runs cross country and track, had to postpone her recruiting trip to an Ivy League university when her flight was canceled the day after Helen was hit. The next morning, Barton and her mother drive the storm-torn roads to take off alone from another airport. She plans to go to college after the recruiting trip, Barton said, but she knows many classmates still worry about falling behind on applications.
There are some silver linings to Helene’s hardships, Asheville High School senior Nathan Flaherty said. Volunteering—something he previously saw mostly as a college application requirement—became a part of his daily life. Seeing people come together is “a light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Flaherty’s post-graduation career plans may have also changed. He planned to attend flight school to become a pilot, but after Helen, he is now considering combining that profession with emergency management.
It’s hard for Shantz to describe how he feels knowing a month of his senior year is gone. As he plans to return to Asheville, Shantz said he’s mentally preparing for “a whole different world.”
“It used to be a really fun time and I don’t know if it will ever go back to that level of just plain fun,” he said.