Photo courtesy: My dear Californian friend, Alicia Lee, ’19.
Thanksgiving break has rolled around here at ICO. To begin the break with a bang, the first snowfall of the season came tumbling around. The snowfall began around 6PM Friday evening and I had a flight scheduled for 7PM. I am honestly very lucky that my flight was able to escape the snowfall terrors before it got worse. Having a cancelled or rescheduled flight is the least of my concerns now. After I arrived home in Texas, I opened up my social media platforms to find all my friends pictured with the snow. They were definitely having the time of their lives with the first snowfall of the season.
If you choose to attend ICO, then you must understand the weather situations that come along with it. Before I made my way up to Chicago, I was experiencing 100+ degrees Fahrenheit weather (37.7 degrees Celsius for you Canadians out there) in Texas. I was ready to leave that sweaty, messy weather behind! When we first moved here in August, we experienced the last few weeks of summer and let me tell you, it was the best weather I have ever experienced. I was having the time of my life with the 80-70 degrees weather here. It was perfect! Thank goodness for us all, that weather lasted for another month.
Before moving here, I questioned every upperclassmen I spoke to if I needed a good winter coat or if I needed snow boots to function. From hearing everyone’s advice, I concluded that if I was going to be living in the RC, I had no need for snow boots; I would be walking back and forth across the street to the school and the RC. If you choose to NOT live in the RC, you might want to consider some good, functional boots when it snows because you might be walking quite the journey to the school. A winter coat is definitely necessary though. I advise those from the West coast or the South like me to invest! Luckily in Chicago, there is a vast amount of stores to buy a winter coat from. I have seen coats from Columbia, North Face, Uniqlo, Nordstorm Rack, and more.
Choosing ICO means you’re also choosing the winter weather that comes with it. It’s a 2-in-1 deal that you probably didn’t ask for, but nonetheless, it has been a great experience dealing with cooler temperatures. To be honest, I’m starting to like the Chicago weather more than the weather back in Texas. …but I might regret saying this if it starts snowing more frequently!