Hello everyone:

For those of us living in a northern locale, snow days are a real possibility, much like hurricanes are for the southern climates.

You know the drill, my friends. The weather folks’ voices become increasingly shrill one week, four days, two days, one day out of an event. Even if the weather charts show that the storm may miss you by a country mile, they still tell us that things are going to be absolutely horrid. Or not.

Please don’t get me wrong. Some of my favorite people have been weather folks, and some of them are incredibly accurate, like my old buddy Doug Hill was when he worked in Washington, D.C.  WJLA isn’t the same without him. (But I digress.)

Let me tell you a quick story: I was teaching in southern Maryland, driving one hour each way to get to and from school. A snow day that didn’t happen came up and I drove to school as usual. A certain student didn’t show up for class that day, even though the rest of the class did. When she finally returned to class the following week, she told me that they had had a tremendous amount of snow in her town, even though the rest of the area was virtually untouched. What she didn’t know was that I drove through her town to get to college. There had been no snow. None. Not a drop. Oops!

So what are you, as a student, to do? Folks, please go ahead and prepare for your class, regardless of what the weather predictors say is coming at us. Make sure everything is up to date and ready to go. Don’t face the professor with a shame-filled face and explain, “But they said…”  The instructor is not going to look at you and say, “Oh, Johnny. I understand, you poor little thing. Of course you may have extra time.” Welcome to college, folks.

Yes, the storms sometimes do actually come. Sometimes they are worse than anyone imagined. But just keep in mind: What’s the worse thing that could happen if you are totally prepared for class and it is cancelled? You have a day off to sleep in, goof off, or work ahead…Your call.

Best,

Dr. Sheri