Snow Problems Here!

     Well. To say that this week went in an unexpected direction would be an understatement. Fresh off of my return from Gainesville, I was surprised to see weather alerts for Tallahassee heralding the potential for snowfall on our Florida campus. Pssht. Like that's gonna happen. Even if it did snow, it probably wouldn't even be that much. These are all thoughts that crossed my mind before the Great Snow of 2025 had fallen upon Florida State University, blanketing the ground beneath a veil of frosty white...

    But let's start from the beginning of the end. On Tuesday, I woke up excited for the promise of a forecasted snowfall in Tallahassee. In my head, the rational side of my mind reasoned that it would probably be barely visible, and melt before hitting the ground because of the Florida heat. However, my inner child completely ignored those thoughts and was instead consumed by the hope that I would see snow for the second time in my life. Fueled by anticipation, I quickly got all of my work done for the day so I could meet up with my friends for dinner, and to experience the brief snowfall together.

its ice not dandruff...

    Surprisingly, the snow was more tangible than I had expected. While at first it felt like cold rain, over the span of the half-hour walk to my friends' apartment the snowfall became more solid, falling faster, and visible to our squinting eyes as we trudged towards the apartment, already over the novelty of snow as it stung our eyes and froze our noses. My friend Matt, who is native to the northern US, was unfazed by the snow while the rest of us Florida locals kept gazing upwards, jaws agape. Initially, we had made fun of him a little for bringing an umbrella, since "snow can't be that bad," but he was soon vindicated by the ice picking up in our hair, jackets, and faces....

    Once we were back at the apartment, basking in the warmth for a few seconds, we quickly abandoned our shelter in favor of a funny (though undeniably stupid) idea: going into the complex's hot tub in the middle of a snow storm. Luckily, it seemed that we weren't the only group stupid enough to do this, as the pool area was soon filled with people marveling at the snowfall, freezing as they stripped their warm clothes, and entered into the hot tub, which began to get more and more crowded. I will admit though, it was a memorable experience. For the first time in months, I was submerged in a pool, and it was in freezing weather (my dad would kill me)! As drinks were passed around by strangers, and everyone shared in this core memory bonding experience, I knew this would be something I would remember for years to come, since the opportunity to sit in a hot tub in a snowstorm isn't something that comes around often!

    By the end of the night, I walked home with Wade, content with our snowy experience. While my inner child was satisfied with how the night of snow went, the practical side of my mind brought me back to reality, as the snow probably wouldn't last until the morning. Even though classes for the next day were cancelled, I assumed that this was just a precaution made my the university to avoid any possibility for lawsuits, instead of insurance that tomorrow would be a literal snow day. I couldn't have been any more wrong.

    When I woke up the next morning, I sleepily peeked through my window and was blinded by a shining white blanketing everything outside. Beating all odds, the snow had not only persisted through the night, but ended up snowing way more than was expected, leaving the roads empty save for the ice that veiled it, and the trees buckling under the weight of the accumulated snow on its branches. Checking my phone, I saw that Wade had invited me to go exploring in the snow-covered campus. Excited, I decided to join him in walking around with some film students as we slowly made our way up through Tallahassee.

    That day, I spent pretty much every hour of daylight outside, enjoying the cold weather and the beautiful white landscape. I got to hang out a lot with the film students and get to know them better, taking pictures with them and sledding down hills until things got stale. It felt just like I was a kid again, playing in the snow with a bunch of new friends, and I think this was just a spectacular way of spending a day off. It got even better when it was announced that classes were cancelled for the entire week, meaning everyone had no worries about their classwork or exams, freeing them to just enjoy the snow in peace.

    While I really enjoyed the week off and the weather that caused it, I was ready to go back to class. While I'm sure this kind of freak weather event won't happen again, at least for a long time, I'm really happy with how I decided to spend every moment of these snow days. But before I return to classes, I have one more weekend getaway left in me... with Tampa in my sights!