Sophomore film major Hannah Margiloff said she’s never walked so fast to get to class. “Anytime the sun was blocked, I reached a max walking speed,” Margiloff said.
Despite wearing multiple layers, Margiloff said the cold on the first day of the spring semester was still difficult to manage. “I’m wearing at least two to three layers on all parts of my body and it was nowhere near enough.”
Students returned to campus on Monday, Jan. 26, despite extreme cold, navigating difficult commutes, icy sidewalks and uncertainty about how the weather would affect classes after J-term classes were moved online on Friday, Jan. 23.
In a campuswide email sent Sunday, Jan. 25, the college announced that campus would be open for the start of the spring semester the next day.
“Please take appropriate precautions and allow extra travel time to ensure a safe commute,” the email read.
Junior animation major Writer Carter headed into the Digital Print Center at 623 S. Wabash Ave. at 8 a.m. on Monday morning after a difficult commute.
“Since I commute to campus, the extreme weather makes travel difficult and more unpredictable for me, so I’m trying to leave earlier even if I might lose some sleep,” he said.
Sophomore interior architecture major Jasmine Jones, who lives close to campus, said the weather for the first day “didn’t impact too much”.
Rosie Reed, a sophomore architecture major, said she was mostly stressed not knowing if classes would be canceled or not.
“I think the cold definitely impacted my nerves because I was a little bit stressed about this first week,” she said. “The anticipation of not knowing if it was in-person or not, so consistently checking my email, that was a little bit nerve racking.”
For students commuting from farther away, snowy sidewalks added an extra challenge.
Claire McGowen-Henderson, a sophomore theatre design and technology major coming from Evanston, said the snow slowed her down more than ice and had to take extra precautions.
Senior creative writing major Jamey Rabon said they didn’t want to miss their last first day of classes at Columbia.
“I live outside of Pilsen, so commuting has proven to be a bit difficult considering the snow and transit.”
Rabon said they managed to get on campus on time, but they worry for their peers who have further commutes.
Junior photography major Samuel Martinez said the weather ruined his mood.
“It definitely changed my approach to the start of the semester since ideally for the beginning you want to be energized and optimistic to keep that mindset throughout the next few months,” Martinez said. “But when freezing air blows against your face it really puts you in a bad mood quickly.”
Students who stayed on campus over winter break faced different challenges at the start of the semester.
Sophomore communications major Madison Rogers, who lives in the Arc residence, said a heating outage last week left her without hot water all day Friday.
The Arc, a Columbia-owned residence hall, is slated to close at the end of the academic year due to declining housing demand, as previously reported by the Chronicle.
Rogers added that this week brought new challenges, as icy sidewalks outside the residence hall made walking to the dining hall difficult.
“It was just terrible,” she said. “I’m frustrated.”
But student leaders said many on campus remained focused on the start of a new semester.
For Amelia Lutz, a junior film and television major and SGA executive vice president, students have shown her a “calm optimism” on campus despite the winter weather.
“I feel like every student I see and talk to is ready for the new semester and the new beginning it brings,” Lutz said.
Additional reporting by Lilly Sundsbak, Mya DeJesus, Lily Thomas, Miguel Loza-Sanchez, Shawn Katz, Anthony Hernandez, Julia Martinez Arroyo and Marc Balbarin.
Copy edited by Samantha Mosquera
