The cold never bothered us anyways.. at least some of us.
With recent changes in the weather, Unionites have experienced some strife in how to deal with it. Over the past two weeks, temperatures have fluctuated from 0 degrees Fahrenheit (with -25 degree wind chills) all the way up to 52 degrees. However, the worst of the atmospheric calamities hit on Tuesday, January 16th when Lincoln Public Schools, Southern Adventist University, Oakwood University, and Union’s other sister schools canceled for potential snow and cold while Union had to “tough it out”.
Students had varying opinions. Sophomore business management and marketing major, Robert Leslie, felt almost betrayed. “I just didn’t appreciate the weather we’ve had over these past couple of weeks. Like, it was almost -25 degrees and thankfully I didn’t have classes those days, but I just felt bad for all of the other Unionites that had to walk in that weather to go to class when our other sister schools like Southern, Oakwood, and other schools decided they weren’t going to have school. Oakwood just didn’t have school for the past week and us Union people had to be tough.”
Other students, like Racquel Amich, sophomore IRR major, were not only upset by the decision to continue classes as scheduled, but were also concerned with the health of students in general. “It kind of stinks how Southern closed and we didn’t, but also at the same time, we might be used to this kind of weather, but there is a flu season going around and people could get sick. It’s just weird though, we had to tough it out and they didn’t.”
Although there were many opinions of frustration in not canceling, some students were unperturbed by the weather. Celinda Mansilla, sophomore communications major, when asked what she thought of the weather stated, “It’s been nice.”
Perhaps some of the most comedic responses to the controversy were found on various social media sites, including Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter, where Union engaged in some friendly banter with Southern Adventist University.
After realizing SAU had closed and Union didn’t, sophomore business administration major, Katie Buxton tagged @SouthernNews in a post. Both @ucollegeNE and @SouthernNews responded to the post with comical memes, including a meme of Disney’s Frozen characters. The friendly banter continued until finally a picture of a Unionites’s snowman was posted.
“@SouthernNews do you think you could talk to @ucollegeNE” - @katiebxtn
“Of course we talk, we're siblings! But the cold never bothers me. Anyway…” - @ucollegeNE
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“Hopefully you’ll still take time to come out and play!” - @SouthernNews
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“💙💙💙Always! 💙💙💙” - @unioncollegeNE
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Although with mild disdain, Union students strapped on their boots, tied up their scarves, and headed out into the Frozen tundra, they showed great strength...and some wit too. It has been said, “Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn't.” So Union students, you deserve great applause and recognition for overcoming this feat. You will be all the better for it! And maybe, as Robert Leslie hopes, “our tough resilience will be rewarded in a snow day later on in the semester.
Kayla Miller is a junior studying nursing.