By Heather Monahan
Features Assignment Editor
Bonaventure students from Western or Upstate New York are typically acclimated to the weather Bonas experiences during the winter. However, out-of-state students who are used to warmer weather take notice and have different reactions to the arctic temperatures and flurries of snow.
Will Vossler, a sophomore accounting major originally from Los Angeles, said southern California weather in the winter is in the 80’s.
“I try not to look at the weather back home while I’m at Bonas,” Vossler said.
Although he’s used to spending his time in warmer weather, Vossler said he has experienced colder weather before.
“My family has a cabin in Lake Tahoe, Nev.,” he said. “I spent a lot of time skiing there when I was younger.”
Despite having history with snow, Vossler said he believes it will take him a while to get used to the weather here. However, he doesn’t think it’s anything he can’t handle. On the other hand, other out-of-state students are skeptical of whether or not they’ll ever be able to fully adjust.
Nicole Gagen, a sophomore journalism and mass communication major, said she doubts she’ll ever get used to the weather here.
“I’ve never experienced any weather comparable to the weather here,” Gagen said “I’ve never seen winters this cold, they’re just crazy to me.”
While Gagen, a Georgia native, said her first winter at Bonaventure was mild, she believes this season is already proving to be worse than last year’s.
“I didn’t find last year’s winter to be that bad,” she said. “I was surprised when the first snowfall was in early October, but for the most part I managed to adapt to the temperatures.”
Gagen said that while winter in Georgia is typically mild and rainy, she had been exposed to snow in the past.
“We had about two inches of snow my senior year of high school and the whole town shut down,” Gagen said. “We had school off for a week. It’s kind of funny now because I see the amount of snow outside and I expect an email saying classes are canceled.”
Kelley Burke, a senior journalism and mass communication major also from Georgia, has a different outlook on Bonaventure weather.
“I’ve definitely grown accustomed to the cold weather,” Burke said. “It was 75 degrees on Christmas in Atlanta and I just felt so gross. I love the cold. I get the chance to wear sweaters and boots and scarves and all the cute clothes I can’t back home.”
Burke said after four years, she still gets thrilled when the weather changes during the winter.
“My roommates always hate me when I wake up and jump around to see the snow on the ground,” Burke said. “I thoroughly enjoy playing in the snow.”
Although she said she has adjusted to the weather, Burke said there is still one thing she hasn’t figured out quite yet.
“I think the funniest thing was learning to walk to class without slipping on ice,” she said. “After four years, I still haven’t mastered it.”
Javier Ortiz, a junior marketing major from Bolivia, also said he adapted to the colder weather rather quickly.
“I think I got used to the cold weather pretty fast,” Ortiz said. “I feel the difference when I come back home for break or when I go to a place with warmer weather, but I still get used to it pretty quickly.”
Ortiz said he remembers his first encounter with cold weather in Chicago on his way to Bonaventure. He recalls just how quickly he learned how much of a difference cold weather makes after going outside in just a light jacket.
“When I got out, I have never experienced, even at Bonaventure, the feeling of being frozen to the bone,” Ortiz said. “But I was still so excited about the snow.”
Despite his initial reaction, Ortiz said he no longer gets a thrill from seeing it.
“With time, it (snow) was not that exciting because I see it from January to the beginning of April,” he said.
With the blistering cold and thermometers dropping to single digits, students can agree Mother Nature has been serving Bonaventure a healthy dose of winter weather.
