University of Dayton - MyLife

SNOW DAY '09

Today was another official snow day at UD! I remember when people used to tell me that I'd better enjoy snow days in high school because we won't get any in college, but that was a pretty untrue statement. I've had a snow day every year at UD except freshman year. And because of the storm we had last night/early this morning, canceling classes was a really good idea on the university's part. I don't even have class on Wednesdays, so the only good part about today is that I didn't have to go into work! My roommate, Pam has a campus job, too, but she had to be at Kennedy Union at 8:00 this morning because she works at the information desk. This means that she is "essential personnel" and has never had a "real" snow day at UD because each time we've had them she has had to work.

Last night we were almost sure that classes would be canceled today. It was icing all evening long and we knew it would only be a matter of hours before the snow began to dump on us again...very early in the morning, the perfect time so that schools will be canceled. Now what I don't understand is why is it such a big deal to cancel a day of classes?! I know that it sets everything a day behind, but when the weather is this bad, many professors won't be able to make it to campus anyway, so they will personally cancel their classes. When a big winter storm like this hits and even the snow plows and ice trucks can't keep up to keep the roads clear, canceling is probably the better option. Around 5pm yesterday, just as the ice was picking up, my friends and I decided to go to Applebee's for dinner. Now I know that wasn't the smartest idea, but we really had a craving for that food! Anyway, we wouldn't have gone any later because as we got back to campus, the ice started to come down much harder and it didn't stop for the rest of the night.

Later that evening, sledding down Stuart Hill was about the only thing I could think about. Before I was even a freshmen at UD, I always heard people talk about how infamous Stuart Hill is for sledding down once winter hits. I always thought it was an urban legend when people told me that students would steal the lunch trays from KU (the dining hall) and use them as sleds, but last night I realized this was not an urban legend. One of my friends let us know that she had taken three trays from the cafeteria that day and that she was ready to go down the hill. We were SENIORS and still hadn't done this! This was definitely a "Bucket List"-worthy activity. So at about 10pm, as the ice was coming down even harder, we were determined to FINALLY sled down Stuart Hill before we graduated. Because it was so icy out, there weren't hoards of people sledding like normal. It was just the four of us. Excited and pumped with adrenaline, we plopped down the trays and sat down. "Here's to senior year!" we screamed as we gave ourselves a push and began to fly down the hill. At first the tray went right into the snow and wouldn't really go anywhere, but then it began to pick up on the more packed-down snow. Before I knew it, I was FLYING down much faster than I expected...and it was exhilarating!

Now I must make a disclaimer that the above activity I have just described it definitely not "encouraged" by the university. In fact, when we had the first snow of the year, an email was sent to the entire campus reminding us all that sledding down Stuart Hill was forbidden. I'm not normally this much of a rebel...but I'm sorry...sledding down Stuart Hill was something I just HAD to do before graduating! And don't worry....we'll return those trays to KU...as soon as the snow melts...

Jan 28, 2009 9:11 PM Permalink