My power went out late Monday night, followed by a massive tree pounding into my backyard, missing my house by a mere three feet.  But the worst of the effects came Friday when my family members visited my shore house in Beach Haven West.  Although the structure was standing strong, everything inside, as well as the deck outside, needs to be replaced. My uncle’s boat was found on someone’s lawn, three houses down. Despite this, my family still holds true to the belief that we were lucky. Briana Tedesco

Two weeks ago my dad wanted to cut down our only big tree in the front yard.  My mom said no… When the hurricane started, my mom, sister and I were in the basement watching a movie while my dad was at work.  In our basement there are no windows and you become oblivious to the outside world.  In the middle of the movie my mom needed to go upstairs. Suddenly,  she screamed for us to come up. That big tree had fallen and was now blocking our driveway, the huge roots and stump now viewable.  Through a weird coincidence, my dad got what he wanted.  Brielle Cummings

I could live without power, but not heat.  The worst part was wearing two sweatshirts, a long-sleeve shirt, thick shorts under sweatpants, and two pairs of socks and still being cold.  Yeah, I wouldn’t have entertainment, but I least I would not be able to see my breath in my house.  Lauren Ednie

Five friends and I walked to Montclair Tuesday because we wanted to see the damage.  We ended up getting flagged down by a countless number of cops that all told us “Go home, we’re in a state of emergency”… The whole week we did not have power I bounced from house to house.  I went home for the first time in a week last night, and have never been so grateful to have power.  Cristina Calandra

On Tuesday I fed 20 of my friends because we were all hungry and the food in my freezer was going bad.  This whole week kind of reminded me of the show Revolution where the power goes out and it never comes back.  I was with my friends every day and night and it was great.  Billy Giuliano

Monday night I looked outside and realized my 200 year-old, 100 foot-high oak tree had fallen, missing my house by a few feet.  I was in shock because it could have wrecked my house.  It was mind-blowing when I saw the size of the root system that had come up.  It must have been 20 feet high. Nick DiStaso

For me it was horrific to see how people act when our resources are low, such as gas.  I feel this storm showed our area how unprepared we are when storms like this hit.   Eliza Sniatkowski

Thankfully I had spared the battery in my phone and received messages from my church choir friends.  We got together to charge our phones, get warm, hang out, and work on our audition songs.  I got closer with a lot of people… This week gave me time to think and “center” myself.  Paul Salierno

During the last week, many places regressed into a state of madness with a rise in crime and looting.  Gasoline acquisition became pivotal… and lines to get it were treacherous; some even physically fought over it.  Simultaneously, groups of people who were total strangers banded together to help one another.  People donated massively to impacted communities and helped neighbors with no expectation of a return favor.  Sandy put in perspective that we have a huge dependency on technology and electricity.  Nick Celfo

I realized that the inventor of car chargers for phones and iPods was brilliant since I spent about half my time sitting in the heated car in the driveway charging my phone.  Samantha Tusi

I never lost power, but I realized how bad Sandy was when I saw famous people like Justin Bieber tweeting things like “Stay safe East Coast.”  The restaurant I work at was one of the only ones open, therefore there were lines at the door and all the workers were running around.  It was chaos. Madison Misuro

We decided we couldn’t stay in a house without power any longer so we headed for my aunt’s on Friday night.  Finally, we had TV and internet.  When I saw the news and the Jersey shore, my heart sank. But it was a great feeling surrounded by hilarious, loud, loving people.  I still don’t have power but as much as I hated my life this week I know people had it 100 times worse.  Ellen DiDia