Speech freshman Mahvish Khan is used to the scorching temperatures of her Karachi, Pakistan, home, which can reach 105 degrees. So landing smack-dab in an Evanston winter meant learning at least one important lesson about surviving the cold.
“You don’t want snow on your face, because then you don’t know if it’s your snot that’s freezing or if you have ice in your nose,” she said.
Many Northwestern students from warmer climates are learning hard lessons from the sub-freezing temperatures and nearly 2 feet of snow that awaited them in Evanston upon their return from Winter Break.
When the roads in Arlington, Texas, even threatened to be a bit icy, Medill freshman Allison Johnson’s high school would close. Now she’s learning how to travel in snowy terrain — although she has hit a few stumbling blocks along the way.
“I was in a hurry, so I looked at the snow and thought I could walk on top of it,” she said. “But I took one step and sunk knee-deep into it.”
Weinberg junior Andrew Ellison of Santa Barbara, Calif., saw the 2 feet of snow — and quickly realized that his own two feet were freezing.
“My toes got cold when I got off the plane in my sandals,” he said.
Students expressed special dismay for friends in balmier climes who complain about weather that NU students would kill for.
“(My friends) are complaining about 40 degree weather, and I’m like, ‘Excuse me, you have no right to complain,'” said Adrienne Cruz, a Weinberg freshman from South Florida. “I’m in a state of numbness 24/7 here.”
And if the Evanston cold doesn’t get you, NU’s heating system certainly will, said Weinberg freshman and proud Texan Alicia Pardo.
“All the (university) buildings keep their temperatures so warm that I’m afraid I’m going to get sick going from the cold to the hot,” she said. “I don’t understand why it needs to be that hot. They should know we’re not wearing sleeveless shirts.”
Weinberg freshman Isabel Garcia, also from Texas, hoped to make the best of a cold situation — if you can’t beat it, she said, you might as well shop for it.
“I only had two or three long sleeve shirts before I came here,” she said. “I’m just enjoying wearing my new sweaters and my new boots.”
