Snow days at Brown are some of the most hyped parts of the year. The mix of spontaneity and slight danger posed by snow days tend to excite campus like no other inclement weather-related phenomenon. As an unapologetic California Girl, I had the added anticipation of wanting to experience my first real snow day. The beloved campus icon and student-proclaimed “based god” Russell Carey, Executive Vice President for Planning and Policy at Brown University, blessed me with two snow days my first year at this wonderful institution. I am thankful for them and already yearn for more, but I learned a lot about the difference between the fantasy of a snow day and how snow days actually are.
Expectation: Since there’s no class, the logical thing to do is party, right? I mean who doesn’t want to get lit on a Tuesday? There’s no reason not to have a little fun and get crazy in the middle of the week.
Reality: Actually, there is totally an excuse to not get day drunk: midterms. I mean who can in good conscience waste an entire day, when they’re 5 weeks behind in reading for their poli sci midterm the next day. I can’t, and I don’t know what that says about me (don’t you dare call me a “responsible adult”), but I know that it means that I have to watch snap stories of people enjoying their snow day, while I pretend to have my academic life together.
Expectation: I’ll be so productive! Instead of getting up at 8 am for a boring lecture, I have the chance to wake up at 9:30 am and finish the work I need to get done in a timely manner. My day is perfectly planned out on my Google calendar and I’ll hopefully get to bed by 11 pm.
Reality: I wake up at 3 pm. I’m not here to argue about whether this a reasonable time or not, but it sure isn’t conducive to getting 5 weeks of reading done. Also, when I wake up this late in the day, I’m usually so ashamed to face the day that I lie in bed for a while, to wallow in my misery. I then end up spending so long fixing my calendar that I don’t actually start my work until 4:30. At 8 pm, I lose all focus and end up hanging out in a study room with friends for a few hours, before realizing it’s past midnight and I have to get my shit together. I review my flashcards and pass out at 2 am with the hope of not failing my midterm the next day.
Expectation: Snow day will involve cozy winter beverages and food. I’ll sip hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and eat warm soft sugar cookies.
Reality: On the first snow day, I had not mentally processed that none of my favorite eating establishments would be open. Thus, I did not only forego my daily chai latte, but also had to suffer without the fried rice that I was craving for dinner. I slept through 90% of the day, so even the dining halls weren’t serving anything by the time I got hungry. It was a culinary tragedy. The second snow day I stocked up on my favorites (Cheetos and peanut butter cups), which I ate in absurd amounts until I became nauseous. I got hungry later and made popcorn in the microwave. I hope Kellyanne was watching me struggle in my sweatpants to fully pop the kernels without burning them. (Spoiler alert: I burned them). I tried to save money by getting a normal bag of popcorn instead of the fancy pop-up bowl kind, which clearly didn’t work out for me. I got a paper cut on my thumb trying to lick the butter off the sides of the bag. It was a mess.
All in all, I’ve learned that snow days aren’t perfect magical days. Time doesn’t stop and you are not transported to a winter wonderland. They’re just like every other day, except you have a valid excuse for skipping class. I’ve got no problem with that.