Last week, I was telling a friend of mine in the Philippines (where I went to high school) that with the amount of rain we were getting last week in the Bay Area, classes would have been canceled. I have suffered through power outages, water seeping through ceilings, and trees blocking roads where I lived in Metro Manila. She questioned why that [class cancellations] could not happen here. I know the comparisons are extreme but the reasons to cancel are the same: anticipation of power outages, floods, and most importantly, our safety.

Two umbrellas battled and lost its life in my hands during the rain last week. So last night after reading multiple warnings of this massive storm, I went to Target to buy another. The whole umbrella rack was clean; there was not one left. So I went to another Target and there was one left dangling. I inspected it and found that its thin wires —I knew in comparison to the ones I had last week­—would not last this upcoming storm. So finally I drove to Walmart and asked the salesperson to direct me to the umbrellas. She pointed me in the right direction but warned me that she did not think any were left. There were three: two camouflage, one clear with a neon green outlining, and one turquoise, which felt like the strongest of the three and decided I had found my protector.

Fast-forward to late in the afternoon today and ahead of the storm tomorrow, SF State officially announced the cancellation of all Thursday classes. When I got the confirmation, I was relieved. With the amount of BART and MUNI delays on a normal day, and fighting through the rain on the streets of the city, I was anxious about what the storm would do to commuters like myself. So thank you, SF State officials.

With finals week coming up, the cancellation on Thursday would have been, for most students, the last day of regular classes and now others having to reschedule exams already taking place this week. Yes, others have had finals deferred and other work to be put on hold but this is all for our safety. Let us use this time to catch up on assignments and spend time studying, and more importantly, the much-needed sleep we are going to need to get through the final days of this semester.