I am currently sitting in Schaffer Library and while I may look studious, I am actually on Facebook looking back at pictures of summer days and "facebook stalking" all of my friends winter break adventures to tropical and sunny places. The more I look, the more my tear ducts swell because at this moment in Schenectady, NY it is 20 degrees. If you are anything like me, you not only enjoy the warmth but you also die in anything below 60 degrees. Some may ask, why, if you hate the freezing weather, Sheighla (or anyone for that matter), would you go to college in upstate New York? To that my friends, I have no response. I simply do not understand why anyone in their right minds would attend a college where you can't spend more than 2 minutes outside before getting frostbite, yet for some reason I do. Over the past 3 years of attending Union, however, I have acquired enough knowledge to gain a few survival techniques to get me through the frigid months of winter.

Technique number one: Drive everywhere.

Sorry freshman who follow the rules this one doesn't apply to you. I have realized that in this terrible weather it is best to drive everywhere. While it may seem like an obvious solution a lot of times in my underclassman years, I thought to myself, "eh, Reamer is right across the field...I can make it." No, no you can't. The wind tunnel that is the Rugby field, surrounding the Nott, is terrible to cross and almost never worth it no matter how many layers you have on. This is true even in these early months. Now just wait until the mountains of snow pile up on the field and prevent you from "easily" accessing Reamer. So everyone who thinks they can handle it for just one simple walk... think again. Avoid the cold and just drive.

Technique number two: Bundle up.

Go ahead and look like a snowman, a marshmallow, or what have you. People may stare but when it gets colder and every fashionable person is complaining about being freezing, you'll get to smile and walk outside without any fear of being cold. What I tend to do is wear something cute (or somewhat human-like) underneath with a few layers of warmth on top. A huge scarf that can protect my neck, chin, and ears. All followed by a winter coat and hood. This along with gloves ensures my warmth and while I may look silly for my 10-minute walk to class, I won't be freezing and I'll still be able to strip my layers to a socially acceptable outfit for the day.

Technique number three: Wear sweats when you go out.

We all enjoy going out on the weekends but, especially for students down campus, parties seem to be so far away. The cute outfits you want to wear will not help you get through the walk no matter how much of a liquor coat you have on. So what do you do? Not go out? I mean you probably have homework you could work on but missing out on fun times with friends is never the call. What I do is put on some cheap sweats (you can find them anywhere from Walmart to a second-hand store of any time) and hide them when I get to where I am going. The key to this technique is to not forget where you hid them. This may seem silly, but you have a fracket for your upper half...you might as well invest in cheap coverage for your legs too.

These are just a few techniques that have gotten me through the past three winters and while I still hate that I have to do these things to manage, Union is great enough in the fall and spring to make up for the loss of soul in the winter. Add your own techniques and do what you have to do to make it through, but in just 10 weeks we will all be through to the other, much brighter, side of it all. Springfest awaits, so people, live on and struggle through. It will all be worth it.