By Angie Ramirez

On Feb. 18, Northwest Arkansas experienced its first major snowstorm of the year. Snow began to fall in the morning and continued nonstop for the rest of the day. The University of Arkansas sent out an alert to students that the campus was shifting to inclement weather operations the night before, which went into effect the rest of the week. Instructors had the option to conduct classes remotely, but many chose not to. With the brutal cold temperatures and classes canceled, students were free to do what they wanted. 

Most places on campus were closed due to the weather so residents wrapped themselves in warm clothing and went around campus to find a perfect spot for sledding. The total of 5 inches of snow that fell throughout the day was enough to cover the streets on campus with snow, and with the many hills on campus, residents took advantage of their circumstances by sledding with their friends. 

The first day school was canceled, freshman Loren Howrey decided to go around campus to find a spot to sled. 

“My friends and I went sledding with an inflatable chair,” Howrey said. “We went by the Greek Theatre, and I fell a few times, but I still had so much fun.” 

With the extra time she had, Howrey wanted to be around her friends first and then continue to catch up on her schoolwork after. 

“I like having a snow day now that I am in college because I get to hang out with my friends instead of being stuck at home with not much to do,” Howrey said. 

Most places such as the Greek Theatre and Old Main were filled with residents enjoying and spending their time off with one another. Others preferred to stay inside and spend time with their roommates. 

“It’s nice to see how people come together during snow days and celebrate something pretty, but I like being able to stay inside, especially with the way the weather is,” said Rachel Duvall, a U of A freshman. “My roommate and I have time to sort out our room and then have some friends come over.” 

Duvall’s roommate, Kailey Chandler, also prefers to stay inside but loves how campus looks on snow days and enjoys seeing others have fun as well. 

“I walked around campus with my roommate after lunch for an hour and saw how everyone was doing something different with their friends,” Chandler said. “We then came back to our dorm and watched movies, which is fun and relaxing to do.” 

With the continuous snowfall, the roads quickly became covered. With no time to clear them, it was easy to guess classes were getting canceled the following day. As the days continued, staff was working on removing the snow and ice around campus, but with the amount of snow Northwest Arkansas received, the university canceled classes for the rest of the week. Many students were excited with the news and were happy to have the week off from the stress of their classes and upcoming assignments. The time off pushed back exams and students had little to no assignments to do over their snow days. 

“It gave me so much time to relax and enjoy campus, which is something I really needed this spring semester,” freshman Itzela Garcia said. “It ended up pushing back a lot of exams and allowed me to have more time to study for them and be more prepared.” 

Garcia explained she did not like how campus had limited food options during the snow days, especially since it was more than one day. 

Many places on campus were closed and several food halls such as the Union Food Court and 1021 closed at 5 p.m. Pomfret and Fulbright Dining Halls were the few that were opened late.

Garcia said she had not seen Pomfret as busy ever since A-week, but she felt like it made the students closer because everyone was going through the same things. 

Her main concern was how the push-back in her classes was going to affect her once she returned. With the amount of days that were canceled, professors will need to catch up their students on the lectures to get back on track.

“Although it was great, it did make it a little more stressful because the upcoming week will be extra busy and extra tiring,” Garcia said. 

As temperatures shot back into the 60s and 70s this week, the snow week felt like a final goodbye to the winter weather before the spring temperatures come back in full force. Similarly, it was a nice break in classes before midterms have students sweating.