Since it first hit North Carolina last week, Hurricane Florence has wreaked havoc on many lives. The hurricane continues to ravage the southeast U.S. through significant flooding a rising death toll.

For Guilford students, classes were canceled on Thursday, Sept. 13 due to forecasted flash flooding. Two days later, all classes were canceled until Monday, Sept. 17. Students around campus explained how they felt about the days off and how they decided to spend their five-day weekend.

“I think I slept,” said first-year student Tynisha Scales. “I can’t even remember, but I think I slept a lot and then I hung out with friends on the last day. I took a break from my classes and assignments.”

Other students also said that they were able to get lots of sleep and take a break from the stress of classes.

“I stayed on campus playing Fortnite,” said first-year Keshawn Murray. “I slept too.

Many other students stocked up on essentials, filled their gas tanks and made other preparations for the possible wind and flooding that was expected from Florence. As the storm approached, students spent most of their time finishing homework, hanging out with friends or waiting until the storm abated. Luckily, the hurricane had minimal impact on the Guilford campus, and there was little to no flooding.

“(Guilford) probably could have gotten away with keeping classes running instead, but I’m glad that we had those days off,” said first-year student Spencer Treppel.

Other students expressed similar sentiments about being able to take a break from their classes and assignments.

“I think we should have had more days off, in my opinion,” said Tynisha.

While some students were glad that classes were cancelled during Florence, others believe that it was an unecessary action.

“Okay, so the thing is, I know that people are glad about having days off from classes, but we are still paying for college,” said Murrary. “It’s different from high school because we can’t be happy for days off because it our education that we’re paying for and it’s our money going to waste in a sense.”

For many students, a main concern was that they were still paying for classes when those classes were cancelled.

“It’s not like high school where it’s free,” said Murray. “Any day is a day that you could be learning and that’s what we’re here for. If not, then we could have just done online learning.”