Those of you who know me know that I am a Psychology major, so naturally I enjoyed the beginning of Root Shock. Mental health is something that I think should be taken just as seriously as physical health, and it certainly is nice to read about it related to public health as a whole. While the mental health aspect of the reading is something that I am familiar with, I am not as directly familiar with root shock. Fortunately, I (or any of my loved ones) have never been uprooted or forced to leave home. However like any other traumatic event, I could only imagine how incredibly difficult it must be.

With that being said, I couldn’t help but think of the victims of Hurricane Sandy as I read. After the storm, my cheerleading team went to Gerritsen Beach to help out and I can’t even begin to describe what I saw. There were boxes and boxes of Christmas decorations, memories, pictures – you name it – lined up on street corners waiting to be picked up by the garbage trucks. As we walked up and down the blocks, I distinctly remember asking one woman if there was anything we could do for her. She turned around, shook her head, and replied with a heavy heart, “We can’t stay here.” That was the moment that I truly realized how horrible the situation was for them – both physically and emotionally.