“Write about the snow, South Dakota” – Alisan Van Fleet, Admissions Officer

William and Mary is located in the swampy, warm, beautiful Williamsburg, Virginia. Throughout most of the year it is quite warm, if not outright hot, but there are also roughly 8 days of the year when there is snow on the ground. This is when things get pretty interesting around here. Back home, where the six inches of snow will stay on the ground for 2 or 3 weeks, 6 inches of snow is nothing. By the time it hits the ground, we have 50 snowplows pushing it to the side. In Virginia, though, its another story. And when there isn’t a gorgeous day to follow the snowfall that melts it, Virginians become even more stressed out. All of a sudden I hear people saying things like, “They HAVE to cancel classes for tomorrow, I am not walking on this ice!” or, “Yeah, in South Dakota you’re used to driving in snow/on ice, but we weren’t brought up doing that. Somebody is going to get in a car accident!” or, my favorite, “We Virginians just AREN’T good in the cold. We’re used to the warm, southern heat.” These are all poor excuses. Canceling classes after only 6 inches of snow? That’s unheard of in South Dakota. Yet the College shut down for 2 days this weekend because of the “snowstorm.” We were delayed two hours on Monday morning to protect the safety of our travelers. While I obviously love class cancellation (everyone does; teachers included), I find it amusing to see a College shut down for something South Dakotans wouldn’t cancel kindergarten classes. We could have 15 inches of snow and it could be -25 degrees outside and we would have to go to school. Why cancel classes when students could just drive to school in their tractors or on their snowmobiles?

Okay, this has gotten a little out of control. I’m just giving my warm-weathered friends a hard time. In the end, I LOVE snow days here. What’s better than getting classes off to play in 6 inches of snow when the weather is relatively nice?? That’s all. Keep it real, stay warm, and enjoy the snow while it lasts!

Austin Wiese, Class of 2010