I'm not in Kansas anymore

So the last few days have been pretty rough. You might have heard that deadly tornadoes ripped through Alabama. Well, that tornado just so happened to be a few hundred feet from where I was sitting, huddled in the hallway with a lot of the people in my dorm. The devastation is incredible. Thankfully the tornado missed all of campus and all of the dorms. However, 15th Street and McFarland Ave. were badly damaged and destroyed. A lot of people lost everything: their homes, their jobs, and some even lost their lives. Most people were out of power for about 3 days, but some are still struggling after this tragedy. School was canceled for the rest of the week, and our finals were canceled as well. I actually found this out from the radio because our power was out. Let me tell you, when it's nighttime and you don't have power, it gets REALLY dark! We had emergency lighting in the hallway, but it's definitely not the same. Instead, I stayed up until odd hours of the early morning playing poker on Wednesday with some of the guys and getting a football thrown at me to try to flip me over with some of the guys and my roomie. Memories were made in the midst of this tragedy, but all I could think about was going home. Then, I felt kinda selfish because a lot of people don't have a home to go to, but God spared me for a reason. I'm not done with whatever my mission is here on Earth. I just wanted to take some time to thank the people I know for always being there for me, even when I'm being slightly difficult lol. I also want to say that I want to take time to be there for you, whoever you are that is reading this. I want to be a better, positive person that you can always lean on. Sometimes it's tough and I don't always have the time with studying and basketball practice, but you can depend on me. No matter what. Tell your friends and family that you love them because you never know when your going to take your last breathe. Appreciate the little things and throw some carpe diem in your life : ) Go do something for someone else because there is always someone who is hurting or going through a harder time than you are. Live epically.