Gabrielle Lavan – Opinion Columnist
It’s clear that the weather is becoming more and more unpredictable. An oddly warm winter, severe snow storms in February, and dried-up water sources all around Minnesota are just a few of the indicators that something is out of the ordinary. Through all of the uncertainty, one thing is certain–that we have a right to the magic of snow days. Snow days are an important facet of the reality of living in the snowy land of Minnesota.
Snow days are a Minnesotan kid’s dream. There is something sacred to a snow day, as if some divine entity touched down and declared a break themselves. The declaration signals it is time to do all of the things that we would not otherwise have the time to do.
Immediately after a snow day is announced, you can almost feel the air buzzing with the excitement of possibility. In the vibrations of the buzzing are ideas of what movies to watch, what snacks to have, and which board games to play during the impromptu break. It is the type of excitement that cannot be found during our typical daily routines.
Our routines and the way we normally do things have been permanently altered in more ways than one. The effects of COVID-19 continue to impact every part of our lives. I am preaching to the choir a bit when I say that the pandemic has made a significant and course-altering difference in how schools operate. We are seeing an increase in the number of classes held online, or distance learning days in primary schools. The convenience of online learning has come with meaningful advantages, but forcing students to attend school during a snow emergency isn’t one of them.
It does sound like Gustavus has come to this same conclusion: that the benefits of online learning do not outweigh the divine right Minnesotans have to have a snow day. Snow days are a mystical few days of a break where we can contemplate why we put ourselves through such an ordeal that is a snowstorm. We already live in what could be considered a winter wonderland to some, and a winter nightmare to others, so a snow day is a bonus for such harsh conditions.
Given the world we live in, we need to take what kinds of magical moments we can get. It feels like every day there is a new heartbreaking and miserable news headline that confirms the rough nature of the world. Snow days can appear to be an insignificant element to consider in the grand scheme of everyday life, but they have the potential to be a small escape from exhausting routines.
This argument cannot be made without acknowledging how annoying snow days can be to educators and administrators. Snow days complicate things. They interfere with pre-planned lessons and the flow of the semester. They force teachers and professors to reconfigure their schedules and cut out important material from their plans. I’m sure that I would feel a bit differently about snow days if I have not been a student for more than a consecutive decade of my life. But the fact remains that a snow day can be a much-needed break for everyone.
I believe that small breaks can make a big difference in student performance. For many of us, a weekend is no longer a break. It is filled with work, volunteering, or some other responsibility that prevents us from taking that much-needed rest from the academic rat race. A snow day can be a much-needed disruption to our normally scheduled programming.
Like many people, I hate deviating and changing my schedule to accommodate unforeseeable circumstances. It is annoying, inconvenient, and a nuisance. However, the only certain thing in life is that there will be plenty of uncertainties. We can choose whether we want to embrace the magical uncertainty of a snow day or continue the hustle and shove our way through.