I remember how I used to love the snow when I was a kid. Next to video games, pizza, and I guess a couple of other things, snow was my best friend during the winter season.

Like many sensible snow architects, I built plenty of snow forts with my friends. Those would usually act as cover for our snowball wars. No, not snowball fights. Fighting is for immature children, and I was above such nonsense; my friends and I took it very seriously.

 
I also remember sledding in the front yard with my siblings. I used a standard blue sled, the circular kind with handles on the side. It was a joy to ride, though I do regret not having a bigger front yard. My sweet rides usually ended faster than a video on Vine.

 
All of this was quite literally my childhood during the most chilling season of the year. All that and a steaming cup of hot chocolate awaiting me indoors. Always with the giant marshmallows–it would be blasphemy otherwise.

 
I’ll miss those years, especially nowadays when there isn’t enough time for those simple pleasures. School work, extracurricular activities, and the college application process have largely taken over my life to the point where sometimes I think I should be meeting with Workaholics Anonymous.

 
Overall, this has gradually begun changing my opinion of snow over time. Now, I can tolerate a little snowfall at first, but like anything, it gets old eventually.

For starters, I don’t particularly like being reminded of the sometimes ice-age level weather, and to a large extent, that’s what snow has been for me recently: a reminder of my least favorite temperature ranges. I don’t mean to be over dramatic, but for me it’s like the stuck Pop-Tarts in the vending machine scenario–it adds insult to injury.

 
Then you have arguably the greatest winter plight of all New Englanders: shoveling. Two years ago, for instance, our state had its worst winter in recent memory with record-breaking snowfalls, over 100 inches that year. It was a collective nightmare to shovel; there was so much snow, my family couldn’t even use our snowblower. We also went a full day without power thanks to ice buildup on our powerlines, and others had their power out for multiple days. To be fair, most winters are nowhere near this bad, but it can still be a burden on occasion.

 
Despite all of this, if I could only pick one thing that I still appreciate about snow, it’s the appearance. It sure is beautiful when it first falls, coating the desolate landscape with a blanket of pure white sorbet–not the kind you should eat, mind you. I only wish it lasted longer.

 
Then again, I guess the best advice I could give would be to savor snow while it’s in that untouched state. The life of upperclassmen in general can be quite stressful, so I think there’s something to be said for simply letting go of daily anxieties to take in the little miracles in the surrounding area, if only for a moment. It sure beats dwelling on the worries of the day, and can also act as a refreshing change of pace.

 
By the way, on the rare occasion that you do have an extended period of free time, you’re also never too old to break out your old sled, build a new fort, or just make shapes in the snow. Actually, I encourage it.