What image comes to mind when you picture a snow day?
Are you transported back to your childhood?
Do you reminisce on crowding around the TV in your living room with your siblings, waiting eagerly for your school district to scroll across the bottom of the screen and let you know that your school was canceled for the day?
Are you filled with memories of your mom’s homemade hot chocolate, so vivid that your senses are convinced there is a large pot of it simmering on the stove right at this moment?
Or, are your memories more recent?
Do you think of snow storms on campus spent hunkering down in your dorm building, watching movies and eating cozy snacks with your best friends?
Have you preferred to spend these days with your friends, sledding down the infamous North Hill, barely able to make it back up because you’re falling over with laughter?
Savannah Jones, a freshman health sciences major from Edwardsville, IL, has fond memories of both.
“Some of my main snow day memories as a kid would be going sledding with my siblings. We always came in and drank hot chocolate and ate soup when we were done sledding,” said Jones.
Being homeschooled meant that Jones still had to do some schoolwork on snowy days but got to enjoy time playing with her three older siblings.
Not much has changed about snow days for Jones since the days of bundling up in her puffy, pastel snow outfit.
“In college, honestly they have been really similar. On my last snow day, we went sledding and we played board games with our friends, we made them breakfast and everybody drank coffee and hung out,” said Jones.
Jones and her older sister, Jenna, keep an open invitation for friends to stop by their dorm’s living room for lattes or hot cocoa.
Recently, Jones has opted for hot cocoa, specifically with marshmallows, whipped cream and caramel sauce if she is feeling extravagant.
“Hot chocolate is definitely my favorite out of all of the snow day foods. I have a giant sweet tooth, so hot chocolate is definitely my favorite,” said Jones.
Similar to Jones, snow days in Anderson Menz’ family looked a little different than children who went to public or private school.
“I was homeschooled, so I spent a lot of time at home, and any time I wasn’t doing school during snow days, we would go outside. I could always remember things like when it would first start snowing, going out on the trampoline and jumping before it got too heavy for it to still bounce,” said Menz.
Menz, a freshman communications major from Stoney Hill, MO, grew up as the youngest of three siblings and has lots of fond memories with his older brother, Alex.
“I definitely went out with my brother a lot. We would do a bunch of things where we were acting out different scenarios,” said Menz.
The brothers spent hours outside, ignoring low temperatures and enjoying time out in the peaceful country of rural Missouri.
They whittled and crafted bows and would come inside to warm up by their wood burning fire place that heats their whole house.
Menz said there are differences between experiences in the wintry cold when he was a child and the ones he has now.
“It almost seemed like it was a lot warmer when I was younger. Because I could stay out there for hours and not have any trouble, but now, I’m like, wanting to run in as soon as I go out! Definitely a change in that sense,” said Menz.
Now, Menz prefers to spend his snow days inside, but he still has a soft spot for snow.
“I can say that I hate snow, but that’s not entirely true. It depends on where I am at. If I’m able to get back to my room and get dry and warm again, then I’m totally fine going out in the snow. But if I’m going to be out all day and go in that [snow], it’s pretty rough,” said Menz.
A cozy drink that is sure to warm Menz up after his friends have convinced him to play in the snow is his favorite drink from The Perk, the Carmella Latte.
While a toasty drink helps Menz stay warm on a snow day, Claire Floring, a freshman human services major from Colorado Springs, CO, connects chili with snow days.
“Chili was a big thing. We would eat chili a lot when it snowed because you keep those ingredients in the pantry,” said Floring.
Floring said snow days differ in Colorado and she has a strong preference for her home state.
“It’s way more fun to watch the snow when there’s mountains. That’s my statement and I stand on that,” said Floring. “They schedule in ten [snow days] a year, and we usually use all of them,” said Floring.
The large quantity of built-in snow days is one of Floring’s favorite fun facts to share about her home state.
“Colorado has less required school days than any other state in the country because we get so much snow! But we handle snow better. So you guys get an inch or two here, and you’re like, down for the count but for us it’s like ‘you’re going to school tomorrow,’” said Floring.
Floring loves to spend snow days watching her favorite movies.
Although she lives out of state for college, Floring and her family still make a point to watch their favorite snow day movie, “Snowball Express”, together.
“I like rewatching my favorite movies. When I was here and it snowed at home and it was snowing here, we all watched the same movie,” said Floring.
The Floring family views “Snowball Express” as the perfect snow day movie because it’s snowy but not Christmassy.
Abby Hardy’s family farm in Troy, MO, may not have mountain views, but Hardy, a junior nursing major, still reminisces about snow days growing up on her family’s farm.
“Everytime it snowed a lot when I was a kid, my dad would hook up a sled or some sort of circular metal object to the back of his tractor, and then we would ride across the fields with the sled hooked up to the tractor. And before we did the tractor, when we were littler, he would use the UTV because we were babies,” said Hardy.
Growing up, Hardy and her three younger siblings spent many hours together on the farm, helping with straw and tending to the field.
Hardy is an RA at North Hall, which means that her snow days are now spent on campus.
The ideal way for Hardy to spend an on-campus snow day would be with a warm drink in hand, watching movies and doing homework with her friends.
She’s been particularly into one cozy beverage this winter.
“I love chamomile tea with honey in it! That is such a cozy good drink that I have really enjoyed this chilly season,” said Hardy.
Hardy appreciates the time to slow down and rest that college snow days offer.
Carmella latte, hot cocoa, chili, or chamomile tea; fun in the snow or snow day movies; whether any of these special snow day memories resonate with you or you have unique memories of your own, stay cozy this winter as you make new snow day memories.
