When people ask me what my favorite season is, I have trouble deciding. However, if they were to ask me my least favorite season, I would reply immediately with winter. The cold, gloomy weather that spans almost four months feel as though it will never end, and it makes it seem as though we will be stuck in an internal winter. And because you may be wondering: yes, I hate the snow.
Winter is horrible for many reasons. One of the most important is that if you are in school; final exams are in the winter. Yes, we have a nice one-month winter break afterward, but that is nothing compared to our three-month-long summer holiday. The cold weather certainly does not make going to the library fun. On the bright side, there’s nothing like sipping a hot beverage on a cold winter day…that is, until it runs out in roughly twenty minutes, meaning you have to get a new warm drink. Cold winter days call for layering. Putting a thick and heavy winter coat on top of a thick sweater on top of a t-shirt is not my ideal way to spend the day. I find myself traveling a lot around campus, walking to class, the library, and to the dining hall. All three of these places have at least one thing in common: they have heating! Removing my layers is a hassle, especially when there is minimal space to place your belongings. Putting everything back on again before you go outside is another big struggle. I don’t know about you, but I feel awkward while putting my layers back on in the middle of the dining hall where anyone can be watching you prepare for the cold.
Another awful aspect of winter is the short days and long, long nights. Unlike winter, summer is known for its long days and short nights. Winter, on the other hand, embraces nightlife. With the sun setting at 5:30 PM every day, I feel as though it is much later than it really is. I enjoy spending time in the daylight where I can actually see people and not just large, creepy figures in the night.
The most significant reason why I personally dislike winter is because of an event that occured right before Winter Break my freshman year. It was a cold and snowy day on campus; I had just taken my last final of the semester, and I was ready to fly all the way back home, away from the snow. Unfortunately, freezing rain ruined my travel plans. I woke up the next morning, all packed and ready, took one step outside, and immediately fell on my butt. The entire campus was ice. Being from the West Coast, I have never experienced anything like this before. By the time I got to the airport, I found out that my flight was delayed, and it kept on getting delayed for the next six hours before the airline decided to cancel my flight home entirely. In a panic, I found myself running all over the Columbus airport in search of the next flight home since I had to get my wisdom teeth taken out two days after my original return date. Luckily, I was able to get on a plane and get home the next night. The point is that the snow completely ruined my trip back home, so now every time that it snows, I feel stressed because it reminds me of this travel fiasco.
I do, however, enjoy some of the good things the snow has to offer. Sledding down the hills is extremely fun if you’re looking for a sense of adventure, and building snowmen on the quads give the campus a kid-friendly vibe. Most importantly, the snow makes the campus look beautiful, and even softens the fact that it is below freezing for the entire day. But, don’t be fooled by these sentences of positivity; I am still the Grinch when it comes to winter.