Going to a small college where most of the students are non-commuters and most of the staff live relatively close to the school, snow days are few and far between. The days you wake up to not just a delay but a full day off of classes feel like miracles and come as huge reliefs to students who never get a chance to sleep in.
It doesn’t have to be like this, however. We don’t have to be shocked to get a cancellation or never have the opportunity to experience this joy.
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I'm writing this proposal to the administrators or the college presidents or the gods- whoever is responsible for declaring snow days on campus.
Because they actually have a lot of important benefits, to students and the overall general public, that need to be given a voice.
On a serious note, the obvious benefit of the snow day is, of course, safety. Safety for the students walking on the slippery pathways to class, but more importantly safety for those commuters, professors, and staff who must make it to campus. They have to make the cold, icy, often unplowed drives early in the morning if they want education to be a priority, and this is not only endangering them, but the other people on the road who are required to go to work or who are responding to an emergency. With less people on the roads, you are making the plows’ jobs easier and the rest of the drivers' commutes a little easier.
In addition, by having school on a particularly snowy day, you are hindering the commuter students’ educations if they have to skip a day of classes because they would not be able to get to their college. Why have people make this difficult call when it can just be made for them?
Another benefit of having a snow day is, of course, mental health. Our society is always stressing remedies for high-stress mental states, and a great remedy for the stress and anxiety of classes is a school-condoned campus-wide break.
Not only can you spend a day relaxing and recuperating, better ready to take on the rest of the week afterwards, but you can catch up or get ahead on some of the more intimidating work that has been piling up through the past couple of days. This time without classes, work, or responsibility is precious, and can be used for all sorts of productive mental health benefits.
And finally the biggest, most important, and least talked about reason for more snow days is, of course, that the one time the whole student body comes together as one is when rallying for a snow day. No matter political stance, religion, sex, or color, every single student on campus would like to have a snow day. This commonality brings us all closer together.
As we all do strange good luck charms and hype each other up, as we pray together or watch the weather channel like a religion, as we joke about the general lack of snow days, we are all yearning for one common goal of having no classes the following day.
It’s beautiful really, and if something like canceling classes can bring about something like that in such a polarized society, I say we have no choice but to provide more snow days.
For the good of the students, professors, and staff but, most importantly, for the good of the nation.
