Some young adults from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean islands have relocated to south Florida to continue their college educations after the island was devastated by two hurricanes.
WLRN Public Radio and Television spoke with several students who are now living and taking classes at colleges that have taken them in on a temporary basis.
One student said she became emotional after arriving in Miami and seeing all the conveniences of life such as stocked grocery store shelves and hot water — neither of which have been available in Puerto after Hurricanes Irma and Maria leveled the island.
"I started to cry because of everything that we had over here and they didn't have over there," 18-year-old Ledishla Acevedo said.
Acevedo is currently at St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, an institution that is offering free housing and food through the spring semester to any students displaced from islands in the Caribbean Sea because of the hurricanes. Acevedo's roommate is in a similar situation after having to leave the Interamerican University of Puerto Rico because of the storms.
The generosity to offer displaced students a temporary home is also coming from public colleges and universities and Florida, which were ordered by Gov. Rick Scott to allow the students in-state tuition.
Florida International University is even offering free tuition, housing, and food to some students via a grant program, the Miami Herald reported.
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