Snowy Swagger

Coming from L.A., I never had the pro-level experience of the snow that many of my East-Coast friends had when I first came to Exeter. One of the first pieces of advice I got from my parents and teachers about getting to class in the snow was to move slowly and watch out for ice. But this doesn't help when that winter fatigue has made you "accidentally" slap the beloved snooze button one too many times, and now you have less than ten minutes to get ready and go. So, over my two winters at Exeter, I have been developing a method to get to class on time, every time, during winter term.You see, you can look at the omnipresent sheets of ice and snow as annoying obstacles, or you could see them as your newest allies in getting to class. To start off, ice has this amazing property of being slippery. Instead of walking slowly, shuffling your heavy winter boots over the road, and hoping not to fall, just pop on your sneakers, run to the ice, and let it carry you as far as it can. Like Andy Samberg in Hot Rod, take on the spirit of a penguin, and slide. This one tip will already cut your transit time in half.But wait, there's more. Let me give you a new definition of the word snow: ammunition. Imagine you've just come off of the most bad*** chain of back to back ice-slides that anyone's ever seen, and now, with no more ice to slide on, you're jogging the rest of the way, with only a minute to spare. Suddenly, a hoard of people who haven't read this article, still trudging along in their 10 pound snow boots, block the road. Now, you wouldn't want to shout at them, that would be rude. So, you take some snow, and shove it into a ball. Ready. Aim. Fire. The snowball slams the slowpoke in front of you, who stops and moves to the side to gather some snow for retaliation, creating a gap in the hoard. Without breaking pace, you weave through the gap. You're not worried about that snowball which is inevitably coming your way; you're already safe inside the building. You walk into the classroom as the bell rings, as if you triggered it. You're a bad***, and you're on time.