Only days before Hurricane Katrina swept through all of New Orleans leaving the city and its surrounding areas under water, Duncan Pray, A'10, took his first steps on campus.
Like any other blistering day in August, the sun shined brightly in the sky as Pray checked-in to his new home on the honors floor in Buddig Hall.
Later that day, he met some other music-major students like him and eventually settled into the city of New Orleans, thousands of miles away from his hometown in Wisconsin.
All week, Pray and the other freshmen on campus participated in orientation events, which Pray thought would be the beginning of a great first year of college. But when Saturday morning came, everything changed.
Pray received a phone call and on the other end of the line, his parents informed him of a storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, heading straight for the city.
"There's this little storm that's coming and it looks like it may be coming your way," his parents said. "Do you want us to come pick you up at the airport and bring you home?"
Having heard nothing about a possible hurricane, Pray declined and remained on campus. About three hours later, university police issued a mandatory evacuation forcing everyone off campus.
Pray, unaware of what was unfolding, took the advice of some upperclassmen and packed lightly thinking Loyola would resume classes within a week at the least.
He then evacuated to Texas with his roommate and his family, who he had met earlier that day.
"At that point, I thought we were going to be gone for a week on extended vacation," Pray said.
"But then Monday came when it hit and we knew that this was going to be so much more than we had ever expected."
Pray and the family glued their eyes to the news channel the entire day trying to gather as much information about Hurricane Katrina as they could.
By Tuesday, Loyola sent an email out to the students, faculty and administration informing them of their decision to close down for the semester.
The email also included suggestions of universities that were accepting displaced students and other potential places students could transfer.
Soon, everyone's nightmares grew into a reality and as the days passed, Pray's situation became more and more unclear.
Still unsure of his future, Pray flew back home where he and his parents contemplated whether or not taking a semester off was the best option.
Two days later, Pray enrolled at Xavier university of Cincinnati.
He spent the entire semester trying to keep pace with the other students who started three-weeks prior.
"The university was fantastic. They made all sorts of accommodations and even hired a private instructor for me for tuba," Pray said.
"But it wasn't quite what I was looking for. It wasn't the same program or same city as New Orleans, the place I had fallen in love with."
Pray, and about four other students, had been taking classes at Xavier since September, but had received no indication whatsoever on Loyola's condition following the storm.
Reports of the city flooding, the city falling under martial law, scenes of depravation and National Guard troops dispersed throughout Louisiana discouraged Pray.
Although in midst of doubt, Pray still remained optimistic that he would attend Loyola once again.
Meanwhile, back in New Orleans, the storm had passed leaving destruction and debris everywhere you looked.
Luckily for Loyola, the campus survived with minimal damage, much less than what its fellow Uptown university, Xavier, had endured the past couple months.
Administrators assessed the damage around campus and rendered a decision. And soon, Pray's prayers were answered via email.
Loyola ensured the students that the school was in good enough shape for it to re-open that spring.
When January approached, about 80 to 85 percent of the student-body returned to Loyola, according to Pray.
"I didn't know what I would find once I came back. We hadn't even started classes yet so the experience I would have, I would make on my own," he said.
"I didn't know what it was like before Katrina, I just knew what things would be like now."
After five years of attending the university he loved, Pray received his diploma and enrolled in graduate school at Loyola for music performance.
He, like many others, pushed through the perils of the city and accomplished their goals.
"I consider myself extremely lucky," Pray said.
"...It wasn't always easy and some people may not have gotten through it all. But looking around the room at graduation, it was clear that we had accomplished something special."
Craig Malveaux can be reached at camalvea@loyno.edu
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