Winter Term at DePauw University was scheduled to start on January 6, but Mother Nature had other plans. With temperatures around the Midwest and Greencastle in particular reaching record lows and flurries of snow blanketing the roads, DePauw was forced to cancel the first two days of Winter Term due to rough travel conditions.
Many students made it safely to campus on time for Winter Term, but for those who did not, there were serious ramifications that were faced.
From delayed flights to numerous hours stuck on congested roads, students late in getting to campus due to the weather had some brutal experiences to share about their travel.
Whether they were coming by road or air travel, students all experienced delays due to the weather.
Jackson Whiting, a first-year from Darien, Conn., had planned on flying into Indianapolis and driving from there to campus on January 5 until the weather put a quick halt to that.
"My flight got delayed by three days because of the weather in Indianapolis," said Whiting. "I knew that the weather was a risk going in. My parents didn't even want me traveling in the bad weather. I missed my first Winter Term class so I had to play catch-up when I got back."
Fortunately for Whiting, he was able to fly directly from New York's LaGuardia Airport into Indianapolis on Wednesday without any layover, preventing further chaos.
Others, like DePauw first-year John Daseke, were not so lucky. Daseke is one of a handful of DePauw students from Dallas and, for him, air travel is the norm for getting to campus.
Like Whiting, Daseke had also intended to get to campus on January 5, but Daseke was at least able to make it out of his hometown on that day and reach a layover destination in Memphis, Tenn.
Daseke thought he would be ok getting back to campus on time, until ultimately his plane to Indianapolis was delayed due to inclement weather.
"I spent three days in Memphis by myself waiting to get to campus. I just passed the time by waiting in my hotel room watching TV and hoping to get out," said Daseke.
Thankfully, both Jackson and John eventually made it safely back to campus and are now flourishing in their classes over Winter Term.
Even students who live in Indianapolis experienced delays from the weather. Sam Miles, a DePauw senior, said it took him over two hours to reach campus by car instead of the usual 45 minutes, and the sights he saw were haunting.
"I saw cars in ditches everywhere on the roads and I had to drive very cautiously," said Miles.
Miles also made it campus unharmed, but the stories he took him were riveting.
All students are just now beginning to get to campus for Winter Term and are settling in after a week of weather delays. There were some rough patches along the way, but, thankfully, the school did not majorly suffer from the weather.
But the time wasted by many for the weather is time that many wish they could have back.