Community Reacts to Extreme Weather
Griffin Breault / The Exonian
By ALEXA MOREL, ARJUN VELAN, MEGHAN TATE ZEE, and ANNIE ZHU
As expected, throughout the winter term, temperatures have dramatically lowered, and facilities have become engulfed in snow. Recently, however, there has been a significant influx of strong winds, sleet, and snowstorms in the Exeter vicinity. As a result, roads and pathways have become carpeted with ice, causing difficulty in mobility across campus. In the face of these challenges, the Academy has made efforts to improve school life for both boarders and day students.
Understandably, the recent weather conditions have had a considerable impact on the daily lives of Exonians. “The biggest impact I’ve noticed is how difficult it is to get around campus, especially if you’re a person who likes to walk around during free periods or go into town for a relaxing breakfast,” said lower Dani Méndez. “Specifically for going into town, it’s been a lot harder because the roads aren’t exactly clear. It’s difficult to manage my time when everything takes longer.”
Lower Arwa Alnazer added, “I have fallen many times because of the ice and slushy snow. Also, it has ruined my jeans when the water gets soaked into them. But overall, these inconveniences are avoidable.”
Lower Alex Lim agreed, “It can be inconvenient because you slip everywhere, and your shoes and socks can get wet — it’s very annoying. And I hate when the bottom of my pants drag on the floor, and everything gets wet.”
Besides the minor inconveniences the recent weather has inflicted on students’ daily lives, many clubs and competitions have had to compromise their plans. “The weather almost affected our robotics competition. On Monday, our team was nervous because of the predicted snow on Thursday, and even during States, they were worried that we might not be able to drive back from Concord,” prep Veda Nayar said. “Thankfully, at States, they condensed the schedule, and the snow came a bit later, so we were able to make it back.”
Although the ice, snow, and cold have many negative effects on Exonians, there are wonderful aspects as well. Lim said, “I’m a big fan of snow because it makes the campus a lot prettier. It honestly makes winter a lot more bearable. For all the negative effects that come with the weather, I feel like it is just a sacrifice you have to make. It’s worth it just to have the snow because the campus looks so sad when there’s nothing on it.”
Getting to class is usually more than a small trek across the road for day students. “I don’t live particularly close to campus, so I always have to account for my parents being able to drive. In January, I wanted to go to Unsilenced, but because of the predicted five inches of snow, I just wouldn’t have been able to stay late enough and still be able to come home,” said prep Diya Sandeep. “This weekend, too, there’s supposed to currently be a snowstorm, so I decided to just miss all my clubs for the day to save my dad the worry of having to drive on icy roads.”
Day students have to make calculated decisions any time the roads look icy. Alnazer shared, “It feels like more work to make up classes and tests I may have missed than to just try to make it to school.”
The administration does its best to create solutions for day students — many of whom find it hard to arrive on campus for class. Nayar said, “Phillips Exeter is very understanding of how hard it is for Day Studs that live farther away. They always make sure that the day before a snow storm, they tell us that we can stay the night at our dorm. Once, they even sent us an email at lunch so we could go home immediately so we wouldn’t be stuck here.”
Senior Becket Moore has had similar experiences. Moore said, “I live 25 minutes away in Newburyport, Massachusetts. I had to stay overnight, but it was a fun time. It’s fun to spend Saturday night with the boys in the dorm.”
The storm has impacted everyone on campus, day students and boarders alike. While for boarders, the most significant challenge has been the difficulty of navigating campus throughout the storm, day students have faced the struggles of getting to class in the morning. As Exonians plow through the thick of a cold winter, the Academy has come to recognize that safety is paramount in such extreme conditions.
