Texas experienced one of the most unprecedented winter storms last week. Counties across the state lost water and electricity, leaving countless families with busted pipes and other severe damages. The hardest thing for college students – no WiFi.

In light of the negative things the weather brought, there was a silver lining for students. Many universities had taken away spring break in order to condense the academic calendar for the semester. The weather provided a spontaneous “snow break”, and for many, a much-needed break at that. 

Since the roads were iced over, students were forced to create their own fun indoors. It often felt like we were on an episode of Survivor, forced to ration our food and water, constantly on edge that we could lose power any minute. Being trapped in the house with nowhere to escape is never a fun feeling. 

I was fascinated by the reactions of students who grew up in Texas to the snow and ice. Being from Virginia, I’m used to one or two of these storms a year. I certainly never expected to experience this kind of cold weather in Texas.

Over the course of the week we were stuck inside, my roommates and I binged over 20 different movies, played games, cooked Pinterest recipes with ingredients we could find around the house, and checked Doordash every few hours to see if they were delivering; spoiler alert, they weren’t. Nevertheless, the time at home created an even stronger bond among my roommates as we went through something so unprecedented together. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.

If you thought 2020 was the year of unexpected events, apparently 2021 has more in store for us. Although last week wasn’t the warm and tropical spring break I imagined, it was certainly more memorable. After this impromptu snow break, my new saying is to “expect the unexpected”, and I think that sums up life right now.