Survivor of Hurricane Sandy: One Year Later

I take pride that I come from NJ and when hit with a disaster we rise to the occasion to help those in need. That is what happened October 29, 2012. I  was home in Warren, NJ with my family sitting around the TV watching the news when the power went out. We ended sleeping in the basement of our basement because the winds were so turbulent that trees were coming down around our house. We woke up to Sandy’s destruction around us. We couldn't get out our neighborhood because there was trees and power lines down everywhere. We got a call that my cousins house was hit by several trees and that there was a gaping hole in their roof. They lived less than a mile from us. We were fortunate that a tree fell to the side of our house.

My dad, my brothers, and I got dressed, grabbed our chainsaws and started to make our way over to our cousins house. Along the way we helped to clear out major roads because people needed to get out. When we got to their house, we teamed up with 20 other friends and family members to clear out about 4-6 trees.  But that wasn't the worst of it. It was just the beginning.

My family and I went without power for 2 weeks. My dad decided to bring my mom and my younger siblings to a hotel once some of the major roads were cleared. My dad got us  a generator about a week after Sandy made landfall. Gas stations started to monitor how much gas they would be giving out. There was countless night of waiting online to fill up my car along with gas cans for the generator. I remember meeting a gentleman waiting on line for gas and he said that he had a house down in Ortley Beach, NJ. He had his house was lost to so much damage, that his neighbors house had been removed from its stilts, and that he wasn't allowed to go back to get his belongings because there was so much debris everywhere.

The most memorable moment for me came two days after Sandy made landfall. My brother heard that New Dorp Staten Island wasn't getting any attention from FEMA or government officials. He decided to go with some of his friends and went, on behalf of Congressman Michael Grimm, to help to provide people with information on how to start to claim property damage to so many houses. I heard what he was going and asked to go with him the next day.

I arrived the next day to what seemed to be a war zone. Debris everywhere and people calling for people to help them with removing all water damaged material from their houses. I grabbed a sledge hammer, gloves, facemasks, shovels, garbage bags and started to help people where ever they were. Cars had been destroyed by the surge. We ran into a recent retired NYPD officer which my team and I helped to renovate his basement.  His brother in law was there for the wave surge. He described it to be like a tsunami rolling into town. The sad part about it was that even though I was helping people to restore their lives, the material that I was throwing out was people’s memories and life savings. These people lost everything literally.

The most encouraging thing was the resilience and the willingness of people to help those in need especially when the government was slow to give a hand. That is the American way. We may live different lives but when our way of life is threatened and altered, we put aside our differences and help those that need it. In this tragedy, we proved that we are Stronger than the Storm. This is a good insight of where we have come from. Coming Back: A Year of Recovery So let us think back and not forget that there are still people recovering from this event even after one year.

Halfway to being halfway done

Yesterday, I was honored to have 2 of my 11 siblings down in DC to run a 10 miler run to honor those who have served in the army. As I had lunch with them, I recalled to them all that I have lived through since August. I started my master’s career with a whole new set of friends in a new city. I got my internship with Armed Forces Foundation (AFF) and working with some of the best coworkers as well as ambassadors like Kurt Busch. I have been within proximity of 2 shootings. One was in Navy Yard and one was on Capitol Hill. For the 16 days that government was on shutdown, I was trying to help our active and retired soldiers with getting their benefits. At the same time, I got experience what goes on Capitol by being able to sit on the Veterans Affairs Committee meeting. I also have been working non-stop to help plan, organize, fund raise and execute Busch Whacked which is one the biggest fundraising events of the year for AFF which is being held at Texas Motor Speedway next week. And this was only the first half of my first semester.  I am very excited to see what the second half brings as well as the upcoming spring semester.

America

At the Armed Forces Foundation, our motto is serving those who serve. Everyday I am dedicated to help do what I can to ensure that the men and women in uniform are not forgotten. There are days where I get a call from a someone in need of financial aid to pay a mortgage, to pay medical bills, or just to have a normal life. I am about to go onto Capital Hill tomorrow with the Director of Public Affairs to sit on a Health Subcommittee. According to media reports based on Department of Veterans Affairs data, over the past 11 years, the number of patients treated by VA is up 29 percent, Additionally, VA prescriptions for opiates hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine have risen in 12 years by 270 percent  The rapid rise in VA prescriptions corresponds with data that indicates VA patients are dying of narcotics overdoses at twice the national average. And this week in is mental health awareness week in which we remember that everyone has a story.Sometimes we cannot forget. Like the men who sacrificed their lives on D Day. Or those who died to give the right to be free today.So this internship has taught me that the smallest things goes a long way, Whether it is doing constant research, calling potential sponsors, and working to get the funds that these brave men and women truely deserve. It will be an experience going into tomorrow and seeing first hand what is being done on a day to day basis to reassure that they are getting the correct treatment that they need to live the American dream.

Great moments come with great opportunities

No one gets to where they are going without overcoming some obstacles. I began my junior year in college trying to catch up with my math major by taking 19 credits. Oct 4th 2009, I finished the Baltimore Marathon, which was my 4th of out of 7 marathons,  in 4 hours and 11 minutes. The next day I woke with a pain behind my left year. Two days later, I woke up with an irritated eye muscle. That night, as I was having dinner with my housemates, my left side of my face went paralyzed. I went to the ER where I was told I had Bells Palsy. The cause of it was Lyme's Disease. This had an effect on my schooling as well. By the end of my junior year, I had almost 30 credits of math courses left. I was told that I wouldn't be able to graduate on time. Just like in a marathon, I knew what I needed to do to get to the end. I took 3  math courses in summer, 3 classes in the fall semester and 3 courses in the spring semester.  And I graduated May 15th 2011 with a bachelors in mathematics. Nobody is going to hit us harder than life. "It is not about how hard you hit but it is about hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. It is about how much you take and keep moving forward"(Rocky Balboa). That is my motivation for my journey! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z5OookwOoY