When I was packing to go to school 1453 miles away in Florida, it never occurred to me to pack an umbrella, much less rain boots or a rain jacket. I had never been one to wear a rain jacket, or invest in a pair of rain boots. I didn’t even own an umbrella! I always had an “I ain’t no coward” type attitude when it came to rain – after all, a little storm never hurt anyone.
However, Missouri (where I’m from) rain is no match at all for Florida rain.
On the first day of school, August 29, 2016, a weather alert was sent out to all students regarding “Tropical Depression Nine” (which later progressed into Tropical Storm Hermine, followed by Hurricane Hermine). My roommates and I, being from the Midwest, were a little freaked out since none of us had ever heard of a tropical depression (for those who don't know what it is, it's basically right below a tropical storm - wind speed must be below 39mph). We brought up the live weather feed, which was telling us, in short, we were going to be getting a ton of rain.
Classes continued as scheduled, and when I awoke for my 8:30 a.m.'s that week, I was met with a downpour. I had stubbornly declined to borrow anyone’s umbrella or rain jacket because I figured, “I can handle a bit of rain, I’m tough.” And sure, the rain didn’t kill me, and I didn’t get struck by lightning, but I certainly returned to my dorm each day soggy, cold, and literally dripping with rain water.
It only took one day of newscasters calling the storm “Hurricane Hermine” and seeing a tipped over potted palm tree in front of my residence hall, for me to decide to purchase a pair of rain boots and a rain jacket from my school's spirit shop.
That week, Tampa received roughly 7 inches of rain (luckily the storm stayed north of us, so we only got the outskirts of it). Nearly everyone on the University of Tampa’s campus was wearing rain jackets or rain boots (or both), and some were carrying umbrellas. This week, it has been pretty sunny with once daily short showers lasting 10 minutes, tops.
And so, my first “life lesson” learned in college was this: No one is too cool to wear rain boots or rain jackets, nor is it tacky to carry an umbrella. If you live in a place where it rains daily, it is worth it to spend the money on a good rain jacket and decent rain boots. After all, it’s no fun at all to be sitting sopping wet in your lecture hall for over an hour with the air-conditioning blasting and catching a (slight) cold in your first week of college.
Stay dry, my friends.
