Syracuse newcomers face their first real winter

As winter settles in, many Syracuse University students say the early snow, the cold and the constant back-and-forth between buildings have pushed them to adjust fast, particularly students new to this kind of weather.

For freshman Maddy Cox, a journalism major from Missouri, snow itself isn’t shocking. However, she says that she was shocked to see Syracuse’s response to it. Back home, she remembers weeks when school shut down because the roads weren’t plowed or salted.

“Last year, we got like two feet of snow and school was off for the entire week,” Cox said. “The roads just weren’t well plowed or well salted.”

So when she woke up to cleared sidewalks across campus this winter, she was caught off guard — in a good way.

“Typically, within the first day or two there’s good walking paths, which never happens back home, so I was super surprised to see that the front of Lawrinson and all those sidewalks (were) cleared,” she said.

Still, Cox is learning quickly that Syracuse winters mean being outside far more than she expected because, unlike in high school, she walks outside a lot more to get to class.

“The first few times I made the mistake of just dressing in super heavy clothing,” she said. “And then I was dying in class because it was so hot. But if I just wore something that made me comfortable in class, I would freeze.”

Her advice to her past self from August is simple: never make assumptions about Syracuse weather.

“If I could send a message to my past self, I would tell her not to make a bet with my aunt that it wouldn’t snow before Thanksgiving,” she said. “Because I did lose that bet and lost $5. But I just didn’t think it would snow so early.”

For freshman María José Coronel, a political philosophy major, Syracuse’s winter brings an entirely new reality. Coming from the coast of Ecuador, she had never seen snow before moving to campus.

“What I love about winter is how it looks from the outside,” she said. “When you go outside and see the campus, it’s really pretty.”

But the cold comes with challenges, especially with her recent asthma diagnosis.

“Because I have asthma, I cannot breathe well when it’s really cold,” she said. “The air is very dry, so I get a little bit short of breath.”

Due to her medical circumstances, she realized she needed to invest in a winter-ready scarf — something she figured out too late. Coronel said her biggest mistake was waiting too long to buy winter accessories.

“I didn’t realize how much I needed a scarf and right now, they are more expensive than they were in August,” she said.

Winter feels familiar to freshman Franco Vivanco, a journalism major from New York, though Syracuse brings a version he wasn’t fully prepared for.

“I feel that the Syracuse winter so far has lived up to the expectations,” Vivanco said. “The worst part is the wind that blows in your face. I wish someone had warned me about the wind. The wind sucks.”

Vivanco said he was “mesmerized” by the first snowfall of the year, even if walking to class that day wasn’t easy. He loves the holiday season despite the cold, but the early sunsets, he admits, throw him off.

“It messes with my perception of time,” he said.

His advice to his past self?

“Bundle up,” he said. “You may be used to cold weather, but when snow and hail blow in your face at that speed, you better be prepared.”

With months of winter still ahead, new students are just starting to get a feel for what a Syracuse winter is like: balancing layers, fighting their umbrellas in the wind and discovering what it means to live in a place where snow is the one thing they can’t avoid.