It wasn’t a ‘snowpocalypse,’ but Lipscomb students still celebrated Monday’s snow day.
Predictions for large snow accumulations in Nashville overnight didn’t come true, but a steady freezing rain — that heavily covered the sidewalks of campus — caused Monday’s day and night classes to be canceled.
“On a snow day ignore all alarms, skip breakfast and stay in bed as long as possible,” sophomore Charles Smith said.
Ignoring alarms and sleeping in was the best option for some students, but for Lipscomb’s early risers, breakfast and studying was not to be substituted.
“I will be spending my snow day mostly doing homework and catching up on reading what I need to be doing for class,” senior Jordan Taylor said.
Senior Gracey Aguirre said she also wanted to spend some of her day studying.
“I am currently studying for the three tests I have this week,” Aguirre said. “I am taking advantage of an extra full day. Later, I hope to go sledding down a slope somewhere”
And some students did just that – crowds gathered by the soccer field to sled during the early afternoon.
“We’re going to go to the soccer hill and sled and just have fun,” freshman Logan Paynter said. “Hopefully, if it turns into real snow instead of ice, we’ll probably go to Capitol Hill.”
Paynter’s wish came true around 2 p.m., when light snow began falling on campus, and students didn’t have to travel Nashville’s treacherous roadways to get downtown for sledding on Capitol Hill.
For junior Chucky Vazquez, the light snow was a little too much.
“Well I’m from Florida and I love the heat, so on a snow day, I am going outside for maybe 10 minutes and throw snowballs,” Vazquez said. “Then after 10 minutes I went back inside because I am not a big fan of the cold. So for the rest of the day I will be eating warm meals and just stay in and watch TV or Netflix all day.”
Other students agreed that a day spent watching movies wasn’t a bad idea.
“[I will be] working on that movie list of all the ones I haven’t seen yet,” senior Zander El-Hindi said. “[It will be a] long day on the couch.”
For students who did decide to leave their dorms, dining options were still available in the student center. Starbucks manager Nancy Behrendt said it was important for her store to be open in order to serve the snow and ice-bound customers.
“It was important to us to make sure we were here so that we had a place for the kids that are stranded here on campus to be able to come and get their coffee and get something good to eat,” Behrendt said.
Students didn’t abandon the student center on the cold day — it was used for the normal studying, socializing and eating.
Many professors gave students a reason to study on the snow day. Several professors used alternative options like Blackboard and Tegrity to provide snow day assignments.
“Tegrity and Blackboard allow teachers and students to stay on track,” Bible professor JP Conway said. “Through the use of video lectures and online discussion posts, teachers can simulate missed classes. While face-to-face interaction remains unique and invaluable, online tools prove to be an effective substitution.
“Years ago, a few days of bad weather would have created a sense of having to catch up,” Conway said. “Now, with these tools, courses stay on pace.”
While some students did indeed use the day to catch up or keep up with schoolwork, many said it was difficult to ignore the opportunities offered by this rare weather.
“You don’t get a lot of it [snow] here,” sophomore Reese Lusk said. “Just waking up, having no classes and then just everyone converging on the soccer field — it’s so fun.”
Nashville hasn’t had a snow this big since 2003. Highs are expected to be mostly in the 20s and 30s for the week. Tonight’s low is expected to be 12 degrees.
To keep students warm, residence halls will provide warm treats and fun activities.
“A lot of the head residents on campus are doing activities with students during the snow day, so that they can stay inside and still have food and have fun,” Elam head resident Hannah Meeks said.
Additional reporting by Brianne Welch, Anna McClure and Sam Webb
Photo galleries by Erin Turner
Video by Leslie Newman