Growing up in California, there was no such thing as “snow days.” I had never gotten to experience the magical feeling that comes along with being told that school's cancelled for the day due to the weather. In fact, the only time school was ever “cancelled” for me was when the power was out for the day.

Fast-forward to my time in college here in Portland, Oregon. Since Portland is known for constantly rainy days and grey skies, poor weather conditions have become something I simply learned to “deal with.” Don’t get me wrong, I love the rain — if I didn’t I would most definitely not be in the right place for school. But when days start feeling longer and gloomier, walking outside in the rain tends to make it a bit harder to find motivation.

Right when Thanksgiving came around, I felt like the cold weather finally decided to make a grand entrance. With my newly, self-diagnosed “Reynard’s syndrome” (a fancy way of saying my hands and toes are always cold and purple), being cold and wet was getting a little old.

A few days ago there had been talk of snow, and what professors were planning on doing in the case they couldn’t make it to class. I assumed this was wishful thinking. It hadn’t snowed last year while we were here on campus so I figured it wouldn’t now either.

But, Thursday December 8^th, when I woke up, it definitely felt cold enough for it to snow. I was doing homework in the library when all of a sudden, it really did start snowing. It wasn’t much, but it excited people enough to the point that pretty much everyone was taking videos and pictures to show to their friends from other schools. I looked at my phone and had received and email saying that my professor was cancelling class, and I was beyond thrilled to hear this news. I continued working on my homework when I looked back out the window to find even more snow — lots of it.

I later met my sister for lunch in the commons and the snow had definitely started to pick up. In the middle of our conversation, we receive another email, this time from the school, saying that campus itself was closed and that all classes were cancelled for the rest of the day.

My California-native self didn’t know how to take it. I was so thrilled that I officially had the entire day to do whatever I wanted, on top of the beautiful scenery outside. Even though it is much colder in the snow, everything about it feels much warmer. You finally get an excuse to wear a giant scarf and a puffball beanie and not look ridiculous. The way that the snow falls and continues to grow and cover everything in a giant white blanket is both mesmerizing and peaceful. It had this ability to instantly shift everyone’s moods into feeling happy, grateful, and excited. I don’t think I will forget the overall vibe that it gave the school.

Waking up the next day to a winter-wonderland of snow continued the magic. Despite almost falling to my death various times in trying to avoid the black ice, I really got that white Christmas feeling I had always missed at home.