At least once in our lives, us UW students have all been asked the same, somewhat irritating question: “Why would you ever want to go somewhere as cold as Wisconsin?” And, well, we are all guilty of the same response, being: “It’s really not that bad.” Well, I hate to break it to you, but we’re all a bunch of liars!
Winter in Wisconsin is pretty rough. From the second you step foot outside, you lose feeling of every limb, becoming numb from head to toe. The walk to class seems longer than ever before. Your pace is like that of a turtle, as you attempt to lug your heavily layered body through the overpowering gusts of wind surrounding you. You begin to do things you’ve never thought of doing before, all to keep yourself readily prepared and as warm as possible.
To get a real sense of this frosty experience, I asked a bunch of people to share with me what happens to them on a typical, frigid winter day.
- “It’s too cold to have even the slightest part of skin showing. It freaks me out that everyone’s in facemasks. It’s actually kind of funny though when I don’t recognize my friends.”
- “I always like to shower in the morning before class. I do my best to blow-dry my hair before going outside, but it always manages to freeze anyway!”
- “Most of my classes were up Bascom my freshman year, so I was literally walking head first into the snow storms. No exaggeration, I wore eight layers on top, and three on bottom. Once I got to class, I was DRIPPING sweat and had to take every thing off in my seat. It was the most frustrating thing ever.”
- “The wind makes my eyes tear up and nose run out of control, and then the cold temperature freezes my tears and leave boogers on my face. LOL. It’s crazy!”
- “The winter really brings me into contact with my true inner laziness. There were several days last year where I did not move from my bed the entire day, unless it meant picking up food that I had delivered.”
- “Winter made me absolutely obsessed with hot chocolate. Starbucks must’ve thought I was out of my mind… I spent money on up to four drinks a day, because I needed it to keep me warm while I walked between classes.”
- “Chapstick became my best friend in the entire world. If I ever left my room without it, I had no choice but to either go back for it or buy a new one on the way. That’s how disgustingly dry and chapped they get.”
Well, winter is just around the corner, everyone!!! So stock up on the necessary apparel and accessories in order to ensure your survival through these next few months. But hey, don’t be down about all of this. Because at the end of the day, all of us badgers are in this together.