Returning to school after Christmas vacation is both terrifying and exciting at the same time. Attending a school in the northern hemisphere also heightens your chance to return to a campus covered in beautiful white stuff that also becomes a huge pain in the ass. This year, in particular, being one of the worst winters in quite some time. You will quickly find out that rain, sleet, snow, or hail is all more of a reason to attend class. College does not have school days, especially Washington State University.

The day I returned to WSU for the beginning of my spring semester, I was in shock. Not only did it seem as though Pullman had been deserted for the last month, but there was also no plowing that had been done. It already is hard enough to find a parking spot on Greek row, let alone when half of them have been taken over by mounds of snow. The most annoying part of the entire thing is the fact that parking tickets are still being issued; I know first hand…

I grew up in northern Idaho, so snow is something I’m used too, however, when you live on a campus with 90° angled hills, your snow tires aren’t going to do a whole lot for you. Surviving the snow in Pullman, Washington is something that I still am trying to figure out, however, here are a few things I’ve learned over the past couple of years.

1. Heated sidewalks – myth

It is said that all of campus has heated sidewalks, and from slipping and walking through a foot of snow myself, I can honestly say that heated sidewalks aren't a huge priority on campus. It’s almost more comical not to have them anyways…

2. Bundling up

Bundling up in as many layers possible is a necessity; however, once you get to class, make sure you’re stripping those extra layers off as soon as possible or you’re going to be sweating like a pig. NO JOKE.

3. Skyways

Finding paths where you don’t have to step outside is very helpful when battling the winter. Plus, you still only have 10 minutes between classes, and walking a mile in the snow in 10 minutes or less is quite near impossible. Stay inside if you can!!!

4. Stay off the roads

This is a hard one for me because I seem to constantly be running errands or driving to class because of my laziness, but this is important. The roads are so bad in Pullman (which irks me), that it isn’t even worth it to drive anywhere.

5. Sorel’s

You will see every single white girl wearing these, guaranteed. But hey, we’re wearing them for a reason. I remember I hated wearing snow boots as a kid because they made me look dorky. Now I swear by them.

The winter is an amazing time… up on the mountains. Not on campus. However, it’s a short amount of time and survivable. Before we know it, we’ll be wearing shorts and shades and start living on the sunporch at 1:00 p.m. Life doesn’t get any better than when in Pullman, Washington, and a little bit of snow isn’t going to stop us Cougs.