A DIF F E R E N T
KIND OF RODEO Wyoming-based UND occupational therapy student Briana Kent fundraises for Hurricane Ida relief
“I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of a
Although her “home” is technically
Disaster Relief
fishing rodeo, but those are the kind of
Prairieville, La., Kent says that she spent
Today, though, Kent is almost afraid of
rodeos we have down south,” smiles
the summers and most holidays of her
what she’d see were she to make it back to
Louisiana native Briana Kent. “You know,
youth on Grand Isle, a skinny, seven-mile
her “little paradise.”
going out and catching the biggest fish
long island in the Gulf of Mexico that serves
you can.”
as the state’s almost southernmost tip.
The second-year Occupational Therapy
“You can barely see [Grand Isle] on a map,”
by Hurricane Ida, the fortieth serious
Doctorate (OTD) student is laughing at the
she says. “But it’s kind of this little paradise
hurricane or tropical storm to hit the state
memory of the watery rodeos that mostly
that not many people know about.”
since the year 2000. As of this writing,
In late August 2021, Grand Isle, along with much of Louisiana, was hit hard
took place near her grandparents’ house
the Associated Press estimates global
on Grand Isle, Louisiana – and noting how
damage from Ida to be at least $65 billion
different they are from the round-ups that
in U.S. dollars.
surround her these days at UND’s satellite OT program in Casper, Wyo.
Photos courtesy Briana Kent and family.
North Dakota Medicine Holiday 2021
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