Make Your Snow Day Count

It is officially the season of cold weather and snow! With snow comes a great gift: snow days. Snow days are the ultimate dream of every student; they are a chance to rest in the midst of a hectic week of work. My URI friends and I got the gift of one of these special snow days this past week, and it unexpectedly became one of my favorite days I have ever had while at school. 

I woke up to a phone call explaining that morning classes would be canceled. For me, this meant no chemistry class, and that was enough to completely lift my mood. I went back to sleep and indulged myself in some long-awaited rest that I usually do not get to appreciate on weekdays. After getting a couple more hours of rest, I woke up fully recharged and ready for the day, which I realized was painted sparkly white upon looking outside my dorm room’s window. My best friend, Maddie, and I (both avid snow lovers) get bundled up for a nice Tuesday morning breakfast before embarking on our snowy adventures. Here are a few ways we made our snow day the best ever, so you can enjoy yours just as much!

Maddie and I both made sure to layer up to keep warm in the snow to the best of our ability. Sometimes this can be hard when living in a dorm with minimal snow-ready outfits, so it helps to borrow clothes, gloves, hats, and scarves. Chilling in the snow is a lot less enjoyable when you’re literally chilling. Once we were all set to brace the freezing cold, we headed to the center of campus, The Quad, with the goal of building the biggest snowman we had ever seen. 

Along with preparing our own outfits, we, of course, got accessories for our snowman as well! We brought along an extra hat, scarf, a carrot for the nose, and olives for eyes. I definitely suggest adding these little touches to bring your snowman to life! While building our snowman, we had intermittent snowball fights, snow angel creations, and of course, plenty of laughs. I highly recommend grabbing your besties next time a snow hits, you all will have so much fun goofing around in the snow. Not only did playing with the snow make me feel like a kid again, but it was a great exercise too!

My favorite part of the entire experience was meeting awesome new friends. Our snowman gained attention from bystanders, and Maddie and I were asked to take wintery pictures of people with our snowman. It was so cool to see how something so simple could bring a connection to the campus! Once our snowman was complete, we gave him a fitting name (Jonathan) and helped another group build their own snowman. This second snowman ended up being even more impressive, and it bonded both me and Maddie with a group of strangers who quickly became friends! Campus recreation came to record our building process and hectic snowball fight; being apart of something so simple makes me smile every time I think about it, and I am so incredibly grateful for the snow day that was anything but bland. 

Next time you receive the gift of a snow day, my advice is to take full advantage of it. Get outside, enjoy the weather, and I guarantee you will meet some awesome people along the way! I must apologize though, your snowman will never be as cool as Jonathan!

                                             Courtesy of Alyssa Houlis

• best friends
• Chilly
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• rest
• snow
• snow day
• winter