On August 29, 2005, thousands of lives changed forever when Hurricane Katrina careened into the Gulf Coast, inundating 80 percent of New Orleans.
Lynda Wilson was no exception to the suffering, becoming one of the 1 million storm-displaced people.
In addition to the trauma of the hurricane, her father and brother died in the two years that followed the storm.
Amid her grief ”“ both personal and regional ”“ she landed in Norwalk.
 “This area and the people here have such a great sense of community,” Wilson said. “Because of that, I felt immediately welcomed when I arrived. I also love the fact that now, rather than taking a vacation to see the leaves change, I”™m fortunate to experience it in my own backyard.”
Wilson, who was then teaching at the University of Phoenix”™s New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette campuses, was at the time only weeks from receiving her doctorate.
Wilson was invited by the university to help open the Norwalk campus in March 2006, one of 200 centers under the University of Phoenix pennant nationwide. The school bills itself as the largest private university in America.
Wilson, who has begun to use Katrina as a teaching tool, says that there is much that can be learned from the situation.
Now settled and with her roots firmly planted in Connecticut soil, Wilson has started publishing again with her mentor from Louisiana State University and has had more time to focus on teaching.
Wilson uses her Katrina situation as a critical-thinking exercise with her students at University of Phoenix”™s Norwalk campus.
“My students know of Katrina because it was national and international news,” said Wilson. “They always ask me questions, the first usually being, ”˜Why didn”™t people leave?”™ From that one question, I”™ve created a whole mind-mapping exercise that challenges students to think from an organizational, business and personal perspective.”
Wilson uses this real-life scenario to challenge students to analyze costs and barriers that affect decision making, including pets, family, lack of money and credit cards.
“It”™s a great way to put a personal face on a very national event,” she said. “And we find that it especially resonates with students in this tri-state area who were so close to the terrorist attack in 2001, and perhaps facing a similar life-changing situation.”
Wilson left New Orleans on Katrina Sunday with her boyfriend and dog had to pass Memphis to find initial lodging. As an animal lover, Wilson has a variety of animals in her house and had the arduous process of finding, caring for and moving her displaced pets.
It was five to seven days before Wilson could go back and rescue her pets and any belongings.
After months of living in her car and on the couches of her friends and working day-today at the Baton Rouge campus, Wilson was offered the opportunity in Norwalk.
She has since then moved here with her boyfriend, a doctor who spent the months after the hurricane volunteering at the Super Dome.
Wilson says that University of Phoenix did an amazing job helping its New Orleans staff, guaranteeing job security and allotting a cash allowance after the hurricane.
“We didn”™t have to worry about losing our job,” said Wilson. “It helped to get things back to almost normal.”
When Wilson came to Norwalk, she brought two New Orleans employees with her, one of which has returned to Louisiana.
“My students are really curious,” said Wilson. “We talk about the why, why nots. We peel back this onion of these decisions that were made. They”™re amazed at the complexities of leaving.”
She is able to point out and dissect and inspire students to develop solutions. Among Wilson”™s observations: Many people on government assistance hesitated to leave the city at the end of August because their government checks were set to arrive Sept. 1.
“We look at the ramifications and why the society fell apart,” said Wilson.
Wilson said that the situation gives a platform for endless discussion. She applies it to criminal justice noting that courtrooms and evidence rooms were flooded by the storm.
“We talk about what would you do, and what a contingency plan really looks like,” said Wilson.
“I”™ve landed in one of the best places that I could have, I”™m a little spoiled about where I did end up.”
Wilson, who no longer has family in New Orleans or Shreveport where she grew up, plans to stay in Connecticut indefinitely and continue to share her experience. Still, she has friends in bayou country and she tracked Gustav”™s path with trepidation, calling Labor Day 2008 “a tough weekend.”
“There”™s always a teachable moment in these parts of our lives,” said Wilson. “The 29th” ”“ also her father Jim Swanson”™s birthday ”“ “is a somber day. I remember a great daddy, not a bad storm.”
