Don't Count On a Snow Day
By Kristyn, age 20, Massachusetts
Sweet Designs Staff Intern
Sweet Designs Featured Writer
During my college selection process, I desired to attend a school where I could wear no jacket, walk to the beach, and soak up the sun. However, Keene is just the opposite of that.
Even though I love Keene State College in New Hampshire, it's the weather here that makes me say to myself over and over again, "Why did I choose to go to school in New England?" The one advantage to having crazy New England weather, besides the beautiful scenery, is the gift of a snow day.
Recently, we have had three big storms: February 16th, also known as 'the whiteout,' February 24th, which I'll refer to as 'the slush pool,' and February 25th, which was not snow, but extreme rain.
It seems every time my friends - or anyone I talk to here about an upcoming snow storm - immediately assume classes will be cancelled and on-campus businesses will be closed. Although, it's not surprising that after these three storms my friends and classmates have no hope for the future regarding curtailed operations.
The whiteout storm that took place on February 16th was perfectly themed to go with the White Out basketball game against Plymouth State University. I must say, it was disappointing to get up at 7 a.m. with hope for a snow day and see every school in Keene besides our college being cancelled.
As the snow started to fall that day, some teachers started cancelling classes. However, operations were not curtailed, which meant the college remained open. As the weather got worse, one of my teachers questioned why some students were missing in class, and those students happened to be commuters.
On the KSC web site, there was a message essentially excusing commuters who couldn't make it to class. But, if you miss more than a certain number of classes, you can be penalized and miss a lot of work.
A fellow commuter in my class still made it, but she almost crashed her car about four times along the way and had a mental meltdown. Other commuters in class proceeded to tell me the roads were so bad there was no way they were going to class regardless of the homework assignment due.
It's ironic that the same night of this storm the basketball game and White Out fundraiser was still going on. For some reason, various students still believed the game only happened to coincide with the name of the event - "White Out."
The "slush storm" was the debacle that riled students up the most. I woke up that morning with a text message saying, "Make sure you wear your rain boots, the campus is a giant slush pool."
On my way to meet my friend for class, I spotted her walking down Appian Way, resembling a wet dog. She proceeded to pant like a dog, getting worked up and saying to the teacher in class, "I am taking my shoes off in class since my shoes are filled with slush."
Then the rumors started to fly. The president was on vacation and the person filling in for her was too. Who was in charge, then? And more importantly, why was our safety in jeopardy again after the experience of the previous whiteout storm?
After the snow stopped and the slush melted, a little "hurricane" decided to pass through the college campus. I decided to go to the gym, not realizing it meant having to leap over the bushes near the entrance like a frog. This resulted from the sidewalks filling up with water that went up to my knees and very strong winds. Oh, and the power went out.
A classmate went right to the teacher and said, "Do you enjoy having class in bad weather?" He responded, "Hey, I don't make the rules to cancel class. I just do what I am told."
This led me to think having snow or rain doesn't really matter; some classes are still going to be in session and some people will still have to go to work.
Then, it hit me. Whoever decides whether to curtail operations when we get slammed by the next storm, please consider students and not just staff and faculty. Think about commuters or the unfortunate people forced to "swim" through Brickyard Pond to get to class.
