Sharks Rx Spring 2018 | NSU College of Pharmacy

W WHEN HURRICANE MARIA formed in September 2017, Puerto Rico was directly in the storm’s path of destruction and received the brunt of the damage. The island had just been hit by Hurricane Irma two weeks prior, so Hurricane Maria’s onslaught was even more devastating. “A Category 4 hurricane was not something easy at all,” said third-year Pharm.D. student Ariel Tarraza Santos. “It was hard for a lot of students to retain their communication.” Faculty and staff members had just hours to help secure the campus, including computers and equipment, before evacuating to prepare their own homes before the storm. Blanca Ortiz, Pharm.D. (’03), assistant dean, and Enrique Nieves, Ph.D., professor of pharmaceutical sciences, were among the last faculty members on campus the day before the storm reached Puerto Rico. “There are no words to describe what things looked like the day after the hurricane,” Ortiz said. “I couldn’t even recognize the area. I passed by the school twice. That’s how bad the area was.” “We didn’t have Internet, and we didn’t have mobile signals either. It was a mess,” Nieves said about the time after the storm passed. Of course, the campus wasn’t the only place affected by the storm. Hurricane Maria decimated people’s homes, stripped the island of power, and made transportation and communication nearly impossible. “I personally didn’t have power or water for almost 42 days after the hurricane,” Tarraza Santos said. “Everyone here has some kind of damage at home, too,” Nieves said. “NSU was nothing compared to what people suffered at home.” Still, the students and faculty and staff members found the strength to continue with their educational mission. “The faculty members here have been working really hard to keep us on schedule,” said Tarraza Santos. “We’re here, and we’re stronger than ever.” Because of the amount of time the campus was closed following the storm, the College of Pharmacy students have to complete their academic requirements in a significantly shortened period. “We’re trying to cover everything from 16 weeks into 8 or 9 weeks,” Tarraza Santos pointed out. “When we came after the storm, I thought that it was going to be impossible to finish the semester,” Ortiz said. “I have to confess that when I saw all the devastation, I cried, because I remembered my promise to the students that we were going to be able to finish the semester. I thought for a while that I wasn’t going to be able to keep that promise. We had to do something beyond expectations, and we had to act really quickly to save the semester.” (continued on next page) Faculty and staff members had just hours to help secure the campus, including computers and equipment, before evacuating to prepare their own homes before the storm.