As a southern girl who chose to attend school up north, I had to prepare myself for the idea of winter. Winter in the south is mild, with temperatures only dipping below 20 degrees on a few days a year (and school usually gets cancelled due to "threat of inclement weather.") I've been able to survive the south for 18 years with nothing warmer than a lightweight North Face jacket and a pair of UGGs, so I knew I was in for a rough time once winter began in Ann Arbor.

By the beginning of November, I was honestly freezing. My friends laughed when I put on three layers to go to class when it was 40 degrees, but y'all, it's cold! As the winter has gone on, and gotten progressively colder, I've learned a few pro tips on how to deal with the cold when your previous experience with cold weather was a ski trip in the 5th grade.

First of all, buy some gloves. You may be thinking, "my coat has pockets, I don't need gloves!" You're wrong. You need gloves. They will save your hands from feeling like they could crack off and leave you with stumps at the end of your wrists. You can even get cute gloves that still allow you to use your phone, so there's really no excuse.

Secondly, wear a hat. I hate hats with a passion, and have since I was young. However, it's so freakin' cold up here that if I didn't wear a hat, my ears would fall off. Seriously. Fall. Off. I've learned to suck it up and wear the slightly extremely dorky looking winter hat. I'd rather look silly on my walk to class than deal with excruciating pain from frost-bitten ears.

Lastly, decent winter boots are a must. I wore UGGs all winter back home, but it didn't take more than two days up here before I realized that they have no traction, aren't waterproof, and really aren't that warm. Yes, it feels great to be walking around on fluffy clouds of sheepskin, but UGG boots don't put sheepskin on your butt to be a cushion when you fall down because your boots have no traction! With all the precipitation and generally damp sidewalks, waterproof and warm boots are a necessity. I promise, a lot of them are really cute!

My first winter up north has taught me a lot about what it truly means to be cold, and I sincerely hope these three items help some of y'all out when that weird white stuff starts falling from the sky.