Newcomer to Houston impressed by spirit of Bayou City in the face of disaster

Posted 11:58 a.m.

Joshua Unikel is a newcomer to the city of Houston. In fact, he only moved here this month from Pittsburgh, Pa. He had never been through a tropical storm or hurricane.

Fortunately, his new neighborhood in the Museum District received minimal flooding.

“When I was living in Buffalo as a grad student, we had heavy blizzards that more or less immobilized the city. In Iowa City we had extreme, subzero cold that kept us indoors. But that severe weather wasn’t this severe, and it didn’t last this long or have such far-reaching effects. So no, nothing like this,” Unikel said.

He is even more of a newcomer to his job as an instructor at the University of Houston.

Unikel had only been teaching classes for one week before the University of Houston had to shut down through Labor Day. Unikel teaches Graphic Design Software; Introduction to Typography and Fundamentals of Graphic Design.

“It’s unusual, for sure. And unexpected. But it certainly could have been much worse.”

“One upshot to being brand new to my job is that I’m very excited and energetic about being at UH and working with the design students on campus. I think I can use that energy to help my students get back into the swing of things, remember how excited they were the first week, and help them reckon with what

happened in whatever way they need to,” Unikel said.

Unikel said that he was impressed by the way his students were handling the disruption.

“Brave, thoughtful and diligent. Most of them are sophomores or first semester freshmen. I couldn’t imagine going through this at their age,” Unikel said.

Unikel continued, “After I let them know that our coursework was on hold temporarily, many of them asked what they could work on from their dorms or homes while we all sit tight. They want to get back into the classroom and the studio. In other words, they’re being incredibly tough instead of caving under all of this.”

Under an unfortunate situation, Unikel has been able to see how Houstonians have come together, and he knows that he made the right choice in having the University of Houston as an employer.

“As a faculty member, I’ve received emails from my dean, from my director and from my colleagues — at every level there has been reassurance, support and a great deal of humanity. All of this, especially in a span of just a few days, has shown me a great deal about the character, care, and resolve of UH,” Unikel said.

“I’ve learned a lot about the city of Houston and Houstonians. People here put up their neighbors whose houses have flooded; they use their flat-bottomed boats and kayaks to transport complete strangers to safety; and for those of us who are new, they gave crucial instruction and foresight in advance of the storm. I guess that’s all another way of saying that Houstonians are tough. They have grit, but they also have a whole lot of heart.”