By Lily Firth
Features Editor
Midterms are always a dreaded part of the semester, filling college students with stress, confusion and anxiety. Luckily, this year, heavy snowfall and strong winds caused classes to be cancelled for two days straight on March 7 and March 8 — giving students two extra days to study, sleep and enjoy some much needed relaxation as a tantalizing prelude to spring break.
Some students took advantage of the additional time provided by the snow days to review for their exams. Kelly Vena, a junior English major, was relieved when she heard classes were cancelled.
“Having Thursday off was a real treat. I normally have three classes that day. It bought me more time to study for my (literature) midterm … now I have all of spring break to prepare,” Vena said.
Classes and on-campus activities were cancelled since the inclement weather made roads unsafe for students and faculty to commute to their respective classes and on-campus meetings.
“I have a lot of meetings on Wednesdays that take up a lot of my free time. Sometimes I’m sitting there like, ‘I could be studying right now,’ as the meetings drag on. But with the snow day, there was none of that anxiety of precious time lost,” Vena said.
James Perry, a junior civil engineering major, used the snow days as an opportunity to socialize and catch up with friends.
“It’s hard to find time to relax during midterms week, let alone time to hang out with your friends,” Perry said. “I have four midterms this week, but the snow days helped move them to another date. It was nice to go outside with my friends, throw a few snowballs and mess around for a few hours. I was worry-free for the first time this week. Even if it was really cold.”
The storm’s perfect placement during the height of exams allowed students to unwind and prioritize time with friends instead of cramming for tests.
“It was fun to be a kid again,” said Carly Mastrogiacomo, a junior nursing major. “My friends and I went sledding and it was just full of laughs and nostalgic fun. I’m basically always studying during midterms week, day in and out. The stress will get to you sometimes. The snow days couldn’t have had better timing.”
Jill Murray, a sophomore marketing major, agreed.
“Midterms were honestly just about to break me until we got a much needed snow day. Thank God for Dave Muha,” Murray said.
Some wished that they had more time to plan for the storm, since the closures on March 7 and March 8 were an early start to spring break for students lucky enough to not have classes on March 9.
"I just wished that I had more time to prepare a ski trip or something, since I don’t have classes on Fridays either," said Jessica Celona, a junior communication studies major. “I could’ve started spring break early.”
A few students were upset that some exams and classes were pushed until after spring break, creating a seemingly unnecessary and avoidable to-do list for students who otherwise would have finished most of their midterm exams and projects before the break started.
“I’m actually a little annoyed we had a snow day,” said Lydia Christiano, a junior marketing major. “I mean, of course I got a little more free time, which was cool. But I had a presentation and a midterm on Thursday, and now it’s moved until after break. I just wanted to get it over with because I’m nervous for both, and the roads were honestly fine by the second snow day.”
