One thing I always look forward to when the seasonal depression starts to hit hard is a good old snow day. Living in Pennsylvania doesn’t always live up to the hype, but having four seasons, including winter, definitely has its perks–or had them at least. With the coronavirus at our front door, most universities and school districts have moved their classes to an online format. And with the virus moving in, snow days are moving out. 

Picture this: you’re in the fourth grade, your local weather channel is calling an emergency weather announcement. The phone rings: it’s the school saying that because of the impending snow, you will not have to attend the next day. So, instead of finishing your times tables worksheet, you call up your best friend on the landline and ask them if they want to sleep over so you can go sledding the next day. Life is good. 

Unfortunately, that is no longer a reality, but instead a pleasure of the past. Kids these days will no longer experience the light in the darkness of a snowy winter. And saddest of all, neither will we as college students in the time of Zoom University. The cherished comfort and sense of relief brought on by a snow day may never be experienced again, and I am not here for it. 

If things ever go back to normal, I am scared that snow days will no longer be necessary for the education system. Teachers and professors will have the option to teach classes remotely and online from the comfort of their homes. I am begging—please do not. This piece is both an homage to snow days and a plea to the education system. 

Building a snowman in the front yard, an igloo that would become your secret hideout until nighttime, sledding and snowball fights could all be socially distanced activities. And now, even one of our socially distanced amusements is being taken away from us. It doesn’t even matter that some of us attend school right in the city. It would still be nice to just have a break. I think some of the professors here would agree that they’d rather spend time with their kids, their families, or just by themselves than cooped up all day teaching class. 

If you would like to join me in solidarity (from your own room, of course), I will no longer be attending my classes, online or in person, when the snow seems a little too high or dense. Instead, I will be cozied up in my dorm, watching “Criminal Minds” and drinking a cup of hot chocolate, the kind with the mini marshmallows. Professors, if you are reading this, I’m simply taking a mental health day.