Winter isn’t the same as it used to be. The playful snow days as children will always have a place in our hearts, but leaving them behind and adapting to the responsibilities we are faced with in our present lives has beauty on its own. Challenges develop our resilience and character. 

As children, we got to experience exciting snow days when snowfall was too extreme to go to school. But with this year’s freezing weather conditions — college students hoped something similar would occur, perhaps a freezing temperatures day off from school.

As a child, Gabriel Velasco, a junior computer science major, often engaged in creative activities on snow days off from school.

“I remember playing around in the snow. I always tried to build an igloo in my backyard, but I was never really that good at it,” Velasco said. “I also spent a lot of time indoors and just enjoying the fact that it was winter.” 

As adults, we manage all kinds of responsibilities that don’t go away in the cold weather. Accommodations seem to decrease as we get older, and snow days off from work or school no longer exist. 

For NIU students, those responsibilities included beginning their semester in freezing temperatures. Last week, students braved campus in 20 below zero weather.. 

The weather difficulties didn’t make lugging belongings up long flights of stairs any easier. It’s these kinds of treacherous tasks that college students don’t get enough credit for but should pat themselves on the back for doing. 

“It was still super frustrating because of the cold, the unclear sidewalks and the fact that Neptune does not have elevators,” Sam Dion, a first-year music major, said to the Northern Star.

Kamorie Nance, a junior psychology major, shared Dion’s frustrations.

“I feel like they should have just had all the classes online instead of in-person because it just made no sense, it was really cold,” Nance said. 

Despite these challenges, students began classes on Jan. 16. The adamancy of staying on schedule goes to show how committed NIU is to starting off strong this spring semester and being resilient against adverse weather conditions. 

While snow days are nostalgic, adapting to the adversity we are faced with as adults and continuing to show up — despite the weather or other inconveniences — develops our skills of resiliency, something that can only make us stronger. 

Resilience is the ability to bounce back and grow despite problems that arise. The stress in our lives is constant, and lack of control isn’t particularly new to our human experience. What makes resilience possible is making sure our expectations are realistic, according to Amit Sood, psychological resilience expert.

When our expectations are lowered to fit the current situation, we can be in a better position to confront the challenges ahead, which will create a more balanced and positive perspective for the individual. 

As college students, we can be realistic about the current situation, accept it and take action. Resilience can help us better interact and deal with our ever-changing lives, and practicing this any chance we get is going to make life easier. 

Despite the cold last week, Velasco pushed through without complaint.

“It was really cold that day (Jan. 16). I guess it was kind of a nuisance, but I kind of got used to it. I tried to adapt and wore double pants,” Velasco said. “I guess for a lot of people it might have been a big nuisance or just a big inconvenience, but I guess for me I just didn’t mind too much.”

Velasco’s adaptation to the cold weather by doubling down on garments is a perfect example of NIU students facing weather challenges head-on. The difficult situation doesn’t seem so hard once we have already started to find ways to adjust. 

NIU’s campus was the picture of resilience in dealing with extreme weather last week, even though some of us weren’t going to sugarcoat how brutal the weather was. Whether the attitudes were more positive or negative, what mattered was the fact we got through it. Being resilient doesn’t mean ignoring the negative aspects of the situation, but rather pushing through despite those aspects.  

So next time a hard challenge presents itself, just remember the only thing to do is accept the situation for what it is, be realistic and come up with solutions from there. There is no point in stressing ourselves out over factors we cannot control. The resilience we build from operating this way will just give us more peace and a balanced perspective.