We made it! We survived the polar vortex that took the Midwestern United States by storm at this time last week. We really owe a thank you to the administration for their awareness of the situation and willingness to take an extra safety precaution for all of the students and faculty by canceling classes on Wednesday. Rather than all of us having to brave the icy wind and freezing temperatures that the polar vortex brought, we all received a day off where we were free to remain inside, mostly safe and warm. So again, a giant, well-deserved thank you to the administration is definitely in order.
Beyond the extreme temperatures, Denison’s maintenance team was really tested in the beginning of last week with slippery walkways before the snow hit.
They did a fantastic job making sidewalks walkable, roads drivable, and classes open as scheduled (even if we didn’t want to go). No, they weren’t perfect, but they worked extremely hard, considering that the snow was frozen to the ground the minute it hit due to the extremely cold temperatures.
So what, exactly, did the Denison student body do instead of going to class on Wednesday? We asked some of our staff how they decided to spend their day off.
Max Curtin: I stayed inside on east quad and caught up on a lot of my classwork. I even decided to make pasta in the kitchen to spare myself another trip in the cold Huffman.
Joey Semel: I did what I hope everyone else did: stayed inside. Just the walk to the dining hall was brutal. I used the day to get some rest, played some video games with my roommate and watched some Netflix. Pretty good day if you ask me. I could get used to getting Wednesday’s off every week.
Mary Clare Edwards: I didn’t leave my dorm all day and caught up on sleep and homework. Polar vortex Wednesday was one of the three days I had off that week.
Sophia Bellone: I binged Netflix’s four-part documentary on Ted Bundy and it was WILD. Highly recommend.
Shanti Basu: Also checked out Ted Bundy, ate a copious amount of candy, then finally braved the cold for a meeting with a professor. I swear, teachers aren’t human.
Nina Cosdon: The sub-zero temperatures meant I was trapped in my tragic South Quad dorm. When I finally managed to escape, it was on a CVS run to stock up on food. I did no homework, but I did manage to
Liz Anastasiadis: During my day off, I watched around four episodes of Gossip Girl. No spoilers, I’m not finished with the last season yet. XOXO, Liz.
Nathaniel Beach: How else would someone spend their day off other than run around in shorts and a t-shirt with their friends outside to embrace the winter vortex? The cold never bothered me anyway.
Brooke Holland: When word was released that classes would be canceled on Wednesday due to the cold, I was excited at first to have the day free to do whatever I wanted. However I quickly realized, there was very little to do because the semester just started, and we’ve already had a bit of a rocky start with classes due to weather. That, and the fact that walking outside was physically painful. After keeping busy with some homework and laundry, there was nothing left to do but lay in bed and scroll through recipes I could never imagine attempting to make in the Crawford kitchen. When it was announced that Mitchell would also be closed in junction with classes being canceled, I accepted the fact that this day was meant to be nothing but incredibly lazy.
When classes were resumed on Thursday, there was a shuttle surface offered to students who had early morning classes to attend in the cold weather. The shuttle was a thoughtful way to make it easier for students to attend classes without giving students too far of a walk in the cold, icy conditions.
Over all, we approved of the way Denison handled the arctic temperatures last week. Let’s hope the groundhog was right and this warm weather is here to stay!