Feeling Weathered

As fall in Arizona settles in, and chilling temperatures dip below 70 degrees, teenage girls across Maricopa County pull out their fur-lined Uggs from the back of their closets, bracing against the frigid desert weather.I, too, used to be one of these girls. Before coming to Exeter the only winter clothing I owned was a navy blue down jacket from Hollister; my typical outfit when temperatures reached their utmost low consisted of a school uniform skirt and knee high socks, the classic look among my school’s eighth grade class. Boys dared to expose their bare arms in the outdoor cafeteria, with no barrier between their skinny limbs and the bitter Arizona breeze.When I made the decision to come to the Academy, I knew two things for certain: I would need to adjust to living away from home and adjust to the vicious New England weather. The first, I nervously anticipated for the remainder of the summer, and the second, I looked forward to as a refuge from the triple-digit summers at home. In preparation for the cold weather, I bought a few cotton and wool sweaters, my first North Face jacket, and a black raincoat, all completely new and exciting to me adding variation to my closet of t-shirts and shorts. But little did I know that I was completely underestimating the truly chilling temperatures of New Hampshire. I witnessed the numbers on the weather channel sink below 30 degrees, but I had yet to experience them.I had greatly underestimated the extremity of winter in New England.My prep year, a blizzard stormed through campus on Halloween, my hair froze for the first time as I scrambled from my dorm to math class at 8 am, I caught a bug that caused my voice to croak like an old man at the Harkness table for two weeks straight, and another snowstorm hit Exeter on the last day of winter term.I have yet to perfect my layering technique to combat the winter weather after two winters here, but I have added a few crucial pieces to my wardrobe, including snow boots, fleeces, and wool socks, that take my daily life from freezing to just cold. However, Exeter's severe weather was not only a cruel shock to me, but also to many students around campus who have lived their entire lives in relatively mild climates.The Academy should offer some insight on the bitter weather Exonians face for nearly six months of the school year to those who might have never even seen snow before. Obviously there isn’t much anybody can do to physically prepare themselves for the impending misery of the cold, but there is much that can be done to help mentally prepare students from the warmer parts of the world.The summer before I first came to Exeter as a prep, I received an email from the school offering a variety tips on how to make friends. As I read the message, I wondered what the rest of my class would be like if we needed to be taught how to be social. Clearly, the Academy strives for its future students to be prepared on an emotional level in prevention of anticipated disasters, but why not on a physical level? How are my new friends going to serve as sweaters on the unexpectedly cold days that I was not ready for? Am I expected to stay healthy by knowing to make eye contact and smile? What about a list of ways to keep warm in the winter? Is sitting alone at d-hall worse than a flu trapping you in the health center for days on end?Not knowing what to bring to Exeter for the school year, I looked up a packing list for prep school online. Other than basic toiletries and an abundance of underwear, it suggested that I bring “winter wear,” providing information only slightly more helpful than anything Exeter has ever offered to me. From here, I scavenged the garage for my sister’s old cotton gloves she used for figure skating, spotting a thin scarf that was tucked away in a cardboard box. With these two items and the few I bought at the store I was prepared for the Academy. Or so I thought.A simple email could have improved my initial months at Exeter immensely. I could have braced myself for this the torments of New England winter, abandoning my current idea of “cold,” and the vision of knee-highs and bare arms as a symbol of wintertime. 