Gill Brooks and her 8-month-old Golden Retriever play in the snow banks in Boulder Wednesday, Oct. 28. A record- breaking snow storm dropped 13 inches on the city by 2 p.m. The snow may have slowed for now, but students will still need to cope with cold weather. (CU Independent file/Lauren Walter)
Before emerging from their dorm room, apartment or house, many college students take a peek at a weather site to determine if that extra layer is called for. More and more as winter settles in, short sleeves are exchanged for turtlenecks and lightweight zip-up hoodies for heavy coats.
Though finding that extra thing to combat the bite in the air can be an inconvenience, not all students find the chill discomforting.
“I like winter weather,” said Anu Reddy, a 18-year-old junior international affairs major. Reddy, who grew up in India, said “growing up in a hot equatorial country makes you love the cold.”
For students like Reddy, the cold is welcome. It’s usually when the clouds dump snow on the ground and classes are still in session that students’ moods turn sour.
“It’s exams on the very wrong date,” said MCD biology major Tsion Zergaw. “You just don’t want to go out. You want to stay inside and sleep.”
Slushy and windy days also make it trekking around campus unpleasant.
“I do enjoy the winter,” said Kristie Lopez, a 19-year-old sophomore communication and pre-journalism major. “However, I don’t like to walk through campus when it’s snowing.”
Getting from class to class can be uncomfortable and downright hazardous during snowstorms, but some students have shortcuts that make the cold easier to bear.
“I cut through buildings,” Reddy said, when explaining how she gets to classes in slushy snow. “I won’t walk outside Hellems; I’ll walk inside.”
During those months where the mercury can drop into the thirties, there are certain things students do to cheer up and cope with the cold.
“I cope with an hvac unit in my room,” said Emily Milton, a 26-year-old junior international affairs major. “I keep it at 75 degrees.” Whenever it breaks down, she gets a heating repair service such as boiler repair by experts like Hearn Plumbing, Heating & Air or Friends and Family HVAC Heating to be comfortable with the cold.
Coping with the cold doesn’t always involve turning up the heat or packing a winter coat along in case things turn nasty. It can also be adapting activities to the wintertime chill.
“I have more house parties,” Milton said. “I spend less time at the bars because you have to walk through the cold [to get there].”
Other students notice they spend more time at home relaxing.
“I watch a lot of movies at home and on TV,” said Sydney Chae, a 20-year-old sophomore economics major. “You just don’t want to go out.”
Though the weather can get students down, there are tried and true ways to get out of the wintertime blues.
“I throw snowballs,” Milton said.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Ana Faria at Ana.faria@colorado.edu
