Students make the most of snowstorms, canceled classes
Students take to the snow with classes canceled
While many students on Syracuse University’s campus were using the university’s fourth snow day in history to start studying for final examinations, some took breaks to enjoy more than a foot of snow.
Some built snowmen, others started snowball fights and many just went outside to experience Syracuse’s first major snowstorm of the year.
Steady snowfall fell most of Sunday in Syracuse before a barrage of snow from a New England nor’easter arrived overnight into Monday morning. SU and area collages preemptively canceled Monday classes while weather and local officials cautioned locals from unnecessary driving. The storm coincided with the end to Thanksgiving break, which also saw several flights into Syracuse canceled or delayed.
Madeline Jones, a freshman from northern Virginia living in Shaw Hall, said that she decided to bring her service dog in-training to the Women’s Building field to take a break from work and let her dog enjoy the snow.
Copernicus, an eight-month-old golden retriever, ran after the snowballs that Jones threw for him that would disappear into the snow on the ground.
“Copernicus is obsessed with the snow and he doesn’t really get to run around in the dorm a lot, so I thought I would just let him play around,” Jones said. “I also don’t see snow that often, where I live, so this is very fun for me.”
Jones also said that she thought the message about classes being canceled was not true at first because she heard that the university never cancels classes. She said that’s very different from her hometown which always canceled school even for an inch of snow.
At around 5 p.m., the Women’s Building field was filled with dozens of students engaged in snowball fights.
Freshman Shamil Askarov said that he and his friends decided to come to the Women’s Building field because they were bored, however, it turned out to be rather exciting to see so much snow because he doesn’t get much of a winter in his home country of Turkey.
Across the field, two students shared Askarov’s excitement snow because they also were from parts of the world where snow doesn’t exist. Freshman Gilberto Ruiz from Puerto Rico said that it was the first time he had seen a significant amount of snow, while his friend Isabel Mello from Panama said she had also never seen snow before.
Jacob Fowler and Erica Ng said they were working all day in nearby Shaw Hall and said that having a snowball fight would be a nice break. Fellow student Nathan Ame said the snow day was a bit of a flashback to his childhood.
“Because I’m from Boston I love the snow and it’s what I’m used to because I grew up playing in the snow,” Ames said.
Jacob Ball said that he also wanted to play in the snow because it reminded him of his hometown Chicago and he wasn’t able to make it there for Thanksgiving break.
Editors note: Video 1 by Noah Vaca Weber and Video 2 Timelapse by Noah Lowy
is a contributor to the NewsHouse.
