. >> reporter: for shallon edwards, it's a day she and her father have been looking forward to for years. in 2005 she attended xavier college in lousiana when suddenly she was forced to evacuation. >> hurricane katrina hit. >> reporter: the damage was devastating. she left school and flew back to native virginia where she enrolled in two colleges before coming here to baltimore. >> it was a tremendous emotional stress to me. just because that was my first choice. i spent a year there. >> she's spirited, spunky,en earthityic and passionate. >> reporter: morgan somerville is the assistant director of admissions. she helped organize a trip to new orleans to help rebuild homes destroyed by katrina. >> she was one of the students that saw fire in one of the walls here on campus and said i want to be a part of that. >> when i drove back it was just flattened soil. it doesn't even exist there any more. >> reporter: she has a job lined up as a lab technician at the university of maryland medical center. >> i'm very excited. it's been a long time coming and so i'm very grateful that it's finally