Over time, I have come to realize that I can’t stand the winter.

As a child, I always thought of winter as this almost magical time that could solve all of my problems. From the way that the winter season was portrayed and marketed to me as a child, it only makes sense that I fell for the trap. 

On TV, we’d have themed holiday and winter episodes that radiated comfort and warmth, and to this day, still have great rewatch value. There was cheerful music that played on the radio for about a month to get everyone hyped for the winter season, and of course, there was the endless amount of winter merchandise that got shoved down everyone’s throats to make people buy things they didn’t need.

All of this was a fantasy, and one I completely fell for. But to give myself some grace, I was a child, and I will admit I do somewhat enjoy some of the things that I just mentioned, even though I’ve grown to dislike the winter quite a bit. 

But what is it about the winter that led me to hate it so much? Well, the answer to that is very simple, actually — the snow. Snow is another element that was always in the winter fantasy when I was growing up. 

I was always told as a child that snow represents purity and new beginnings, and I should be grateful for its existence. In a lot of cases, that is true; snow does act as a natural purifier for the air, and I am grateful for that, especially with the insurmountable amount of problems with air pollution that the planet has. 

So in those regards, I love the snow and its benefits. But just like with so many other elements of nature, there is a massive downside to it. Snow can be just as destructive as fire or water in its liquid form. Just this past weekend, there was a major snowstorm that led to school closings and extremely low temperatures, and all of that leads to my second major enemy — black ice. 

Black ice is one of the worst things to come out of the winter season because, as a college student who doesn’t have a car, one of my biggest fears is walking into it and hurting myself. Just last semester I had a few slip ups with black ice that almost ended in disaster. I, like most college students, tend to rush to get to class — a habit that I should break, but most of that is due to scheduling — so that, combined with black ice, is a serious recipe for disaster, considering that people don’t always pay attention when they’re in a time crunch.

But even with that, I don’t think that black ice is taken as seriously as it should be by officials and those in charge of schools. In fact, I’ve talked to quite a few people who have run into similar problems with black ice on their campuses just in the last few weeks. Even with walking in cities, there are warnings given about black ice, but to me, it doesn’t seem like that’s enough.

There are still sheets of ice along sidewalks and streets, which is highly dangerous for anyone walking or driving. And as I previously mentioned, I don’t have a car, so I’m extremely vulnerable to all of the leftover ice. 

I think that a lot of administrations should take the threats of snow and ice a bit more seriously than they do currently. I appreciate that they do close school when these storms hit, yet it seems that the aftermath isn’t really acknowledged to the fullest potential. For example, even though the schools were closed for a day, once that ended, Rowan did not take into consideration the leftover snow and ice on the sidewalk and roads, even though they were plowed. Just putting the leftovers to the side obstructs the walkways, and there was still quite a bit of ice on the sidewalk, which is extremely dangerous, as I previously mentioned.  Rowan students or anyone anywhere shouldn’t have to worry about potentially falling and hurting themselves with all of the leftover snow and ice around the campus they attend or the city they live in; their safety should be a priority for the people in charge. 

So all things considered, no, I don’t like the winter all that much, and I definitely can’t stand having to walk through its leftovers.

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