Let me be real for a second, about 90% of my anxiety comes from not knowing how to dress for the day’s weather. I grew up in Northwest Indiana, just south of Lake Michigan’s shore. In one school year, we somehow managed to accumulate 13 snow days. That same year, our summer consisted of 95-degree weather with unbearable humidity – the kind that makes your clothes cling to you like Saran wrap. My closet consists of clothing fit for nine different seasons. You know you’re from Indiana when you wear pants, a sweater, and a winter coat in the morning, and by the afternoon you’re down to a t-shirt and shorts.

How do we deal with it, you ask? Here are 11 helpful tips I’ve learned throughout the years that have kept me alive (barely) through all of the insane weather I’ve been forced to endure.

1. Wear layers

If you don’t own a jacket, cardigans, bombers, or the occasional poncho, are you really from Indiana?

2. Befriend the weather app

Check the weather app on your phone first thing in the morning! This only works if you also know what the humidity will be like for the day, which I usually don’t. 65 degrees on a mildly humid day feels NOTHING like 65 degrees on a day with 100% humidity.

3. Get boots that are actually meant to get snowy and wet

Fashionable boots are cute, but a more worthwhile investment would be getting something that can withstand snow, rain, and mud – sometimes all in one day.

4. Invest in a good umbrella

Not the one from the dollar store, those will turn inside out and you’ll be left with a weirdly deformed and useless clump of fabric.

5. Carry sunscreen

Especially if you’re super pale like me. Just because your friends don’t need it, doesn’t mean you won’t roast on a humid, 60-degree cloudy day.

6. Keep a swimsuit in your trunk

You never know when a cold day will turn into a spontaneous beach day by 3 p.m.

7. Buy a pair of Crocs

Everyone always hates on Crocs, but they’re the perfect and most versatile shoe out there. You can catch me accidentally getting frostbite or having weird circle-patterned tan lines any time.

8. Buy an ice pick

Sometimes you’ll need to chip your way into your home or car, it’s just inevitable.

9. Stay indoors forever

Humans made buildings for a reason, right?

10. Accept defeat

Sometimes, you’re not going to win. You’re going to have to endure an 85-degree day in a sweater and long pants. You’re going to have to trek across campus in shorts and sandals while snow sprinkles down. That’s just the cost of living in Indiana, but let’s be honest – would life be as interesting without it?

11. WORST CASE SCENARIO: MOVE FAR AWAY FROM THE MIDWEST

Far... far away.