Going back to school after a long, relaxing winter break is a bittersweet feeling. You are well-rested, well-fed and ready to tackle all of your college friends to the ground after going a month without them. Getting onto the plane is one of the most exciting things in the entire world right now—that is, until you check the weather app on your phone and see that it’s going to be a high of negative four degrees when you land. The good part about going to a Big 10 school? Basically everything, minus the brutal winters.

There is no denying that by attending college in the Midwest you will be faced with several feet of snow and days cold enough to make even walking across the street to the dining hall feel like you’re outside for way longer than necessary. Students at schools like Wisconsin, Michigan and Northwestern have taken the strategic “layering” of clothing to new heights, sporting two pairs of pants at once, parkas that reach their ankles and huge hoods, leaving no part of their body visible to the unbearable temperatures.

In the midst of January, the height of the freezing season, students begin to question whether they should ever leave their dorm rooms again, or if they should stay in the comfort of their warm beds and catch up on Netflix until spring. Uber becomes the best friend of all students who want to maintain a social life throughout these bitterly cold months.

With this, I wish all of the students who will be getting a reality check in regards to weather luck when they go back to school. Only a few seemingly never-ending months until we remember why it is we go to school where we do.