I completely understand the need for safety, but was it really a wise decision to close the university for two days in preparation for Hurricane Irma?
To clarify, my opinion applies only to the closure of Troy’s main campus in Alabama.
The unexpected four-day weekend has left many class schedules hastily revised in order to compensate for the lost days of class time. It is difficult for many professors to be able to cover the necessary amount of material required for many classes within our current academic calendar.
With the loss of another day of class, professors have to move around assignments in order to compensate for lost time. This means that students will have less time to put into assignments, losing quality and the chance to fully understand the materials they are covering.
On top of that, students who traveled home were still left with the responsibility of completing any classwork that was missed while seeking shelter and safety. I doubt many students were focused on completing assignments in the midst of the storm.
This loss of time is honestly more upsetting for me as a student. I deeply value my class time with my professors because that is where I learn the most.
Last time I checked, attending a university didn’t consist of self-studying the content for my future career. I’ve been privileged to learn under many experts in my field of study and I want to be able to spend as much time as I can preparing for my future with them.
In the defense of the university, I completely understand the closure of school in regard to the safety of the many commuting students who attend classes. It would have been absurd to ask students to commute in the weather conditions on Monday.
I also understand that Tuesday’s closure allowed for students who left Troy for the safety of their homes time to return and resettle before school began again.
However, much of the weather had passed by Tuesday, making the closure of school seem unnecessary.
In addition, due to the extra day off for students, many traveled home in order to avoid the weather. However, weather conditions were worse in other parts of the state, defeating the purpose of fleeing home for the storm.
Also, the high amount of traffic fleeing the state of Florida also may have placed more students in harm’s way rather than keeping them safe during their travels.
Regardless of time lost, I believe that the university made the decision that was in the best interest of students and their safety.
I am more than thankful that the storm wasn’t nearly as catastrophic as anticipated, and most of all, want to extend my condolences to everyone affected by Hurricane Irma, especially any students’ families that were affected.
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