From the Daily Northwestern, I'm Mika Ellison, and this is season 2, episode 3 of Digital Diaries, a weekly podcast following the college experience and asking students a question about life in Northwestern. This week's question is, how did you survive the frigid Evanston winters when you started college? Funny enough, could tell why they call it the windy city? Weinberg sophomore Emi Slackowitz is used to the cold winters in Arkansas, but said her first winter on campus was worse.
The worst part? It was not like the snow or how cold it was, it was literally just the wind on your face, like, all the time. But who hasn't made the grave mistake of going out without layers, walking by the lake fill, and then feeling like your face is going to freeze off? Besides adapting to layering her clothes before walking around outside, Slackowitz said even her indoor routines had to change once she got used to the weather.
For me, like, my face got, like, super, super dry, and so I just had to, like, make sure my face was really moisturized. I just had to learn how to do different stuff to make sure, like, it wasn't so harsh on my face. Being in Weinberg second year, Eloise Bronzeman is from San Francisco, where the weather is a lot warmer than Evanston. She was initially excited to see snow for longer than just a vacation.
There was part of it that was, like, kind of exciting because, like, I never really got into experience, like, real seasons before because we don't get those in the Bay Area. But Evanston's low temperatures did surprise Bronzeman at first. My birthday's in January, and it was, like, a high of 12 degrees, which is, like, by far the coldest birthday that I've ever experienced. The near-constant winter gloom that rotates between rain, snow, and a fun mixture of both, also known as sleep, can make going outside pretty miserable for someone who's not used to it.
It's hard sometimes to motivate ourselves to go outside, and also, my mood is, like, sensitive to, like, seasonal changes, so that was also kind of tough. Like, I felt like, last year was the first time that I've really dealt with that. We then ask them if they have any advice for incoming students who aren't sure how to navigate their first Northwestern winter. Both Saccolets and Bronzeman emphasized a need for quality winter gear.
Buy a nice hat, buy a nice jacket. First off, get a nice jacket. They'll make a huge difference. Get, like, a big one.
They don't have to be necessarily super expensive. Like, you don't need a candagus. What's most important is that just that it, like, is really protective. Like, you can go out and freeze in weather and feel just fine.
Bronzeman also offered advice for students that might feel like winter is not only physically, but emotionally draining. Fine. Things that are, like, fun about the winter. So, it had, like, specific, like, winter rituals, like, drink a lot of tea, for example, or hot chocolate, if you like that sort of thing.
You can go for walks in the snow, if you don't mind being outside too much. I'd say just, like, also convince yourself that, like, it's exciting to get to experience something new. From the Daily North Western, I'm Nick Allison. Thanks for listening to another episode of Digital Diaries.
This episode was reported and produced by me. The audio editor of the Daily North Western is Eric Ischmitt. The Digital managing editors are Joanne Hainer and Otunji Ulsher-Williams, and the editor-in-chief is Alex Perry. Make sure to subscribe to the Daily North Western Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or SoundCloud to hear more episodes like this.