One year ago today I, as many of you were, was glued to the television watching the devastating Hurricane Katrina ravish the southeastern region of our country and namely New Orleans.

In the past year with the extended news coverage and media frenzy over this event, what can be said about Hurricane Katrina that has not already been covered before? Of course we are all very familiar with the sub par efforts of FEMA and the criticism of President Bush, but the untold story of Katrina does not lie between the lines of the government bureaucracy and the presidency.

Instead, the real story is the national spirit of camaraderie which Katrina has truly brought to the forefront of this nation.

This nation was an underdog straight out of the gate and I believe that this pretense has instilled in our nation a raging will to preserve our current way of life throughout the decades from our birth. The destruction of New Orleans pushed a sense of national preservation into the minds of Americans. The people of Louisiana were not the only ones who felt the challenge to rebuild, restructure and repair. A wide range of citizens took the fragile state into their collective hands and began to mold it. People from all around the nation started pouring in their time, finances, and talents into New Orleans to make a change.

Many of you might have seen a few news features on television displaying one group’s efforts or one person’s struggle. However, it is the national effort and the national struggle that is truly newsworthy.

A year after Katrina, I would like to write that New Orleans is the vivacious city it once was. However, this is not the case. One thing is for sure; in the sordid country we live in, I feel a bit more at ease in a post-Katrina world. A world of hope and camaraderie to pick up any pieces, for whatever reason they may fall.