As the winter weather begins to settle in, students have plenty to say about cold temperatures, holiday traditions, and the season ahead. For many, cold weather is a sign to start wearing pants instead of shorts. But when exactly is that time for students? 

     For some students, the time for pants is ambiguous. Teaghan Smallwood ‘29 and Keya Kapadia ‘29 both stated that the time for pants to replace shorts is “probably after the first snow.” Stella Wyatt ‘27 explained that, for her, the time to start wearing pants is the “beginning of October.” She adds that this is “because I love wearing pants, so I feel like I’ll take it whenever I can.” Other students are specific about the timing: Karenna Church ‘29 said she “think[s] it starts [to get] too cold to wear shorts at 58 degrees.”

     Cold weather can bring joy in decorating for the holiday season. Julia Konietzko ‘27 believed that it is best to “start [decorating for] Christmas after Thanksgiving. You should not be doing Christmas before Thanksgiving, since Christmas does not need to be three months long.” She said that decorating too early “doesn’t make [the holidays] special. To make [holidays] special, [decorating] has to be at a very specific time of year.” 

     Church contradicts Konietzko’s opinion, explaining, “I think as soon as it hits at 12 a.m. on November 1st…you should be allowed to start [decorating].” Church added, “[my family puts] up our Christmas tree on November 5th.” 

     On the beginning of holiday music, Kapadia remarked, “I like to try to wait until November, but sometimes I end up listening [to holiday music] in July.” Konietzko and Wyatt shared the opinion that one should start listening to holiday music at the same time as beginning to decorate: Konietzko stated, “ I love holiday music. But at the same time, by the end of December, it gets kind of boring.” 

     Whether it’s about the time for wearing shorts, starting to decorate, or listening to holiday music, students have unique ways of preparing for winter festivities.