In the news: What Comes With the First Snow
Shuffling to my 8:30 class on a typical Tuesday morning, I felt a little sprinkle of something on my nose. Was that rain? A figment of my imagination? Nope. I looked up to the sky and there it was. A beautiful, little snowflake. With this snowflake comes more than just an expected day of near-casualties resulting from slipping and sliding on the unsalted sidewalks of our campuses. The snowflake embodies what the entire student body of Notre Dame secretly looks forward to/ loves to complain about. The winter season…the Christmas season!
With the first snow of the season comes an excuse to wear oversized sweaters, watch Elf more times than is probably healthy, and for Carroll and Knott (not!) to have mistletoe hanging from their ceilings. (We see you, boys, we see you). Sophomore Ryan Dunn from Knott Hall explains this philosophy. “We hang mistletoe for innocent reasons. Decoration and who doesn’t want to give a cute girl a kiss on the cheek? Besides that, Christmas is my favorite time of year because I love making gingerbread houses and I can’t wait for the snowball fight on south quad!”
Newsflash: Christmas is a big thing here under the Dome. From lighting the advent wreath candles with all your friends at dorm mass to Christmas music playing in the bookstore, the season brings many feelings of being at home and sprouts up an even stronger bond among students. North Face parkas, those (Ugg)ly (but essential) Ugg boots, and fluffy mittens and scarves become a part of our daily attire whether we like it or not. With the football season behind us, we have to compensate our Saturdays with other fun things to do. While the 3-week Christmas season is short-lived and finals are on the horizon, day trips to Christmasy-Chicago are limited and studying starts to take up the majority of our weekends; although, a peppermint mocha always makes locking yourself in Hes that much more bearable.
For those going abroad in the spring, the Christmas season brings mixed emotions. While excitement to travel is apparent, a feeling of fear of missing out becomes evident. As if the Christmas season isn’t heart-warming enough, there is nothing quite like Notre Dame at Christmastime and that makes leaving for the spring that much harder. Thus, taking it all in is imperative. Sledding down the hill leading to the grotto on North dining hall trays is one of the best ways to start.
Sipping on Gingerbread Lattes walking out of LaFun, hibernating with your roomie on a snowy evening, and taking the perfect Instagram picture of that blue-light Christmas tree under the dome are just some of great things that come along with a winter at Notre Dame. Guy and girl dorms alike become “winter wonder dorms”, full of sparkling strings of lights in our windows, stockings hanging on our doors, and mini Christmas trees on our shelves. Door competitions and RA-sponsored Christmas get-togethers become exciting hall happenings and get everyone in the holiday spirit. (Though this isn’t too hard with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas” song blasting from that one room in Zahm and left-over bottles of Hershey’s chocolate syrup lying around Stanford hall). With the annual Glee club Christmas concert in DeBartolo and the Nativity scene at the grotto, Christmas is, without a doubt, the most beautiful time on campus. So let it snow, let it snow and remember the four main food groups Will Ferrell told us once upon a Christmas eve: Candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup.
Photos provided by the author.
Hannah Drinkall is a Saint Mary’s College contributor to Her Campus Notre Dame.