The night of Monday, Feb. 27 into Tuesday, Feb. 28 brought snowfall to Montclair State University’s campus for the first time this semester. While some classes chose to meet regularly, others were virtual or canceled altogether.
According to northjersey.com, Montclair accumulated around 5 inches of snow.
The university sent e-mails the night before explaining they planned to keep classes and offices operational during the snowfall and students were urged to move their cars into Car Parc Diem or Red Hawk Parking Deck with complimentary parking for the night.
This affected the schedules of some students on campus. Maryem Mirza, a junior business administration major, explained some of her struggles during the snow day.
“I got to school around 10 to do research and I’m here from 10 to eight because I have that and research from two to four and then a five-thirty class,” Mirza said. “I could have done my research at home, but I came to campus to do lab but once I came here I got an e-mail saying my lab was online too so I technically could have stayed home until five-thirty.”
Maryem Mirza, a junior business major, spoke about how the snow caused some frustration in her schedule.
Photo courtesy of Maryem Mirza.
Neel Patel, a senior molecular biology major, also explained how the snowfall impacted his work schedule and the benefit of the university remaining open.
“It’s been easy, my physics lab got canceled and I only had one class today,” Patel said. “It’s not that bad of a snow day and I think it’s good they kept campus open today because if it did get canceled, a lot of people would have missed their classes which remained regularly scheduled.”
Neel Patel, a senior molecular biology major, shared how his plans were altered for the day due to the snow.
Photo courtesy of Neel Patel.
Outside of the realm of academics, other students gathered to make the most out of what they could with the snowfall on campus. Luke Studer, a freshman animation and visual effects major, shared what he and his friends did the night of the snowfall.
“It was really, really good,” Studer said. “The last time we had snow on campus I was not able to come because I am a commuter. However, this snow day my friends and I really took advantage of because at midnight we got out there and made a snowman. We rolled a ball around five feet high and finished it off today with about six other people’s help to finish it. It was cool to have strangers come together and have fun in the snow.”
Luke Studer, a freshman animation and visual effects major, was one student who made the most out of his snow day.
Aidan Ivers | The Montclarion
The snowman made by students outside of Feliciano School of Business.
Aidan Ivers | The Montclarion
Linvia Ong, a freshman animation and visual effects major, was also a part of the snowman building and she explained a sense of familiarity with the weather.
“I had a lot of fun and I would say this is a second snow day because a while back we also had another night where we got a decent bit of snow and I also went outside until one in the morning playing in the snow and that’s exactly what we did this week,” Ong said. “I went out there and I was trying to build the biggest snowballs as I could.”
Linvia Ong, a freshman animation and visual effects major, shared how the snow on campus was a familiar environment for her.
Aidan Ivers | The Montclarion
Along with Studer and Ong, Adele Sadowski, a freshman chemistry major, was also a part of the snowman building and she explained it wasn’t intended to begin with.
“It was really fun as this wasn’t the original plan because I got out of my in-person chemistry class at 12:30 Tuesday and my friends and I made a little snowman and then I see them building a bigger snowman out at the [Student Center] Quad and I just had to join them,” Sadowski said.
Adele Sadowski, a freshman chemistry major, explained how the idea to have fun in the snow was spontaneous.
Aidan Ivers | The Montclarion
Ren Krieger, a freshman design, technology and management major, emphasized how they were grateful for the opportunity to make the most of the snow day.
Ren Krieger, a freshman design, technology and management major, spoke about the activities they took part in.
Aidan Ivers | The Montclarion
“All my classes were over pretty early and my last one got canceled so my friends and I decided to get food and have fun in the snow,” Krieger said. “The night prior, we started making giant snowballs and the next day we see other people trying to make something out of it so we offered to help and six of us were lifting one snowball onto the other and we were sculpting it together. For the time being it is immortalized as a snowman.”
