Winter Is Coming

Cheesy Game of Thrones pun aside, the past few days in Syracuse have signaled that everyone’s favorite time of year is fast approaching.  For upperclassmen familiar with the erratic weather in Syracuse’s frozen tundra, this should come as no surprise.  However, I still remember watching my fellow freshmen struggle to fight the cold and pounding snowfall and biting winds.  Students from warmer climates can have trouble adjusting, and this post is for them.

Ignoring the annoyance of freezing winds, here’s a brief list of several things to watch out for in the coming months in order to stay safe and fully functioning.

• Don’t be a hero when it comes to bundling up.

It’s natural to want to avoid being seen as the warm-weather freshman who bundles up in October and look ridiculous.  However, there are far too many illnesses that travel through a college campus to risk your well-being in order to look natural.  Bite the bullet, bundle up and nobody will think anything of it (because everybody will be doing it).

A few tips for clothing: living in Syracuse requires some extra warm clothing, especially for students not used to this climate.  Do yourself a favor and invest in a winter coat, thick gloves or mittens and a good pair of boots.  If you don’t have the disposable income to make this happen, hit up 315 in Marshall Square Mall for some cheap deals.

• Watch your step EVERYWHERE you go.

I have personally witnessed dozens of students carelessly shimmy through campus without a care in the winter months, only to hit a patch of ice and fall down sharply.  Even though our grounds crew is fantastic, the weather here is far too sporadic to catch everything.

Heavy snowfalls can cover deceiving patches of ice (which form very quickly) and give us false assurances that the sidewalks are perfectly fine. However, it’s worth the extra few seconds to get to class to take your time and walk slowly.  You’ll pay for it later if you’re too reckless.

• Even though it’s a complete pain, shoveling will help you out in the long run.

This is especially true for students that live in houses off campus.  During my junior year, my roommates and I constantly put off shoveling our driveway.  We tried to drive over the snow, and sometimes just decided not to use our cars until the snow stopped and partially melted.

Guess what?  It didn’t work.

Driving over the snow only made the problem worse, as it became packed down and extra slippery.  You’ll only be causing yourself more trouble, especially when you do break down and decide to shovel.  It’s best to shovel early when the snow is still light and unpacked, and the rest will be smooth sailing.

• Take care of your car as much as possible.

I’ve had friends at school that had their cars die, start experiencing engine problems and struggle to warm up because they didn’t take extra care in the winter.  It doesn’t take much for a Syracuse winter to do irreparable damage to your vehicle.

Make sure you take every warning and irregularity seriously.  It’s better to have your car looked at early on before the winter gets brutal and it’s too late.  Get regular checkups, keep your gas tank at least half full, and beware of parking in big piles of snow.  If you do that consistently enough, the underside of the car can start to rust faster than usual, which brings even more problems.

• Leave for class earlier than usual.

Going off of the second point, there are far too many possibilities in the winter to risk leaving for class at exactly the right time.  If you’re driving, you can face heavy traffic and/or bad roads, and the walkers still have to be careful of the risky sidewalks and snowbanks.

Take it from someone who’s been late because of the weather.  It may be hard to pull yourself out of bed 15 minutes earlier than usual, especially in the biting cold, but it’ll be worth it once you’ve made it to campus.  It might just be the difference between an A- and a B+.

• Try to embrace the beauty of it.

It may seem ridiculous, but the snow-covered landscape of SU has its own beauty to it.  Check out some of the buildings from the bottom of campus, and try to go to the top floor of the Hall of Languages and look out over the city.  From the warm building, you’ll be able to appreciate the scenery and escape the pressures of school for a little while.