A week ago, Jennifer Raney felt ahead of the game. Her bags were packed and she was ready to embrace the hot southern climate, hospitality and distinctive culture of New Orleans.

Now the Lawrence teen who had planned to start her freshman year at Tulane University feels like a refugee.

“I keep saying in my mind: ‘Is this happening?'” she said.

Raney is among several displaced students enrolling this week at Kansas University, which has made special late-arrival concessions for students uprooted by Hurricane Katrina.

Raney was atop Mount Oread on Thursday. She went through the motions and did what she was told: Sign up for classes. Meet with advisors.

But her mind was on Tulane and the city that has captured her heart.

“It’s hard to see all the images on television, the streets I walked down,” she said.

Big plans

Tulane was one of Raney’s top choices for college after her graduation in the spring from Lawrence High School. When she discovered she was excepted, she was thrilled.

Raney researched New Orleans. She visited the city and walked its streets. She investigated the Tulane faculty and picked the perfect schedule.

Last week, Raney and her father, Tom, filled their GMC Yukon with clothes, pictures and most of what she owned.

They drove 1,000 miles to the coastal city, arriving Friday. Katrina had struck South Florida, leaving more than a million people without power. But forecasters were uncertain where the storm would move next.

Raney’s big day was Saturday, move-in day. Raney and her father woke early, and arrived on campus before 9 a.m.

Katrina was off the coast. Raney focused on school. She found her fourth-floor dorm room on the edge of campus, met her roommate and started unloading the Yukon as fears grew.

“The whole time I was thinking ‘I’m not leaving. I’ll stay in a shelter. I’m not leaving this school,'” she said.

But the chatter grew louder. There was talk of evacuation.

About noon, with boxes left unpacked, Raney and her father stopped. The barbecues, the meet-and-greets and all the functions planned for new students starting university life would never be.

Raney left her belongings and retreated. She didn’t even pack a bag. Class would start in a few days. She’d be back, she thought.

Katrina crashed into the coast Monday. And in a blink of time, Raney watched on television as her newly adopted city fell beneath a lake of water. On Wednesday, dreams of Tulane became dreams deferred.

Raney’s father called KU. He struggled to help get her enrolled. Now, like many, Raney tries to move forward as she waits to see what the future holds.

“I had the whole thing set in my mind of how it was going to be and what it was going to be like,” Raney said, tears welling in her eyes. “It’s hard to comprehend.”