As younger students, we would pray for snow days, so the school would be canceled, and we’d get to enjoy the snow days. But in this case, the polar vortex wasn’t enjoyable for some college students.

Due to the extreme weather conditions, all classes and any activities or events during one particular week toward the end of January were canceled at Elgin Community College for the safety of students. 

As a result, many staff and students’ lives were greatly affected; not only was their school schedule impacted, but work and personal commitments were made impossible to fulfill. On short notice, changes had to be made, because no one was expecting the weather to be as bad as it was.

On Jan. 22, classes and events were canceled after 5 p.m., and students received an alert from school via email and text. This weather turned everything upside down for students whether they were prepared for it or not.

Though some students weren’t prepared for this day, first-year ECC student Vena Scott felt ready for whatever the cold had in store. 

“I was pretty prepared for the snow days, so nothing went wrong,” Scott said. “The only thing was that, at home, my family had to turn up the heat even more.”

However, Scott felt that the syllabus changes that had to be made for each of her classes were the hardest adjustment of all.

“Our class schedule is still the same, but the lesson plans are a little more crammed,” Scott said. “It feels like it’s just being thrown together in a hurry, [so we don’t fall] too behind.”

Luis Ledesma, another ECC student, had mixed feelings about how he felt about how many days the school would be closed for.

“I didn’t worry much [about] how many days the school would be closed, but then again, I’m paying for these classes so I wouldn’t want weeks off of school either.”

For Ledesma, knowing what to do when it came to his car in the extreme weather was something he felt pretty clueless about.

“It wasn’t the best days for my car,” Ledesma said. “It wouldn’t start at all until later when the weather wasn’t cold, but there weren’t any home issues which was good.” 

Stephanie Hernandez, however, didn’t feel at all equipped to handle the weather, and it was something she won’t soon forget. Hernandez first felt the effects of the cold when she was headed out to work.

“Thankfully, at my job, I didn’t have to be outside that day,” Hernandez said. “When it was time for me to leave, it was really freezing outside. I wasn’t expecting it to be as cold as it was, and I’m glad school was canceled because no one should have to be outside in that weather.”

Hernandez wasn’t too excited about this weather, considering the changes that are being made for her classes and missed meetings.

“Sure missing a few days of school helped me catch up on work that I was behind on, but [since being back at school] everything has felt rushed, and since I’m paying for these classes out of pocket, I would’ve been upset if classes were canceled for too long,” Hernandez said. “Two of my professors for my classes had to change their lessons around, so we wouldn’t be behind. I even missed my meeting with my academic advisor from being out of school.”

Hernandez has different hopes for next January.

“I just hope we don’t have to experience another winter like this again and if we do, I want to be more prepared,” Hernandez said.