When I tell people I go to Syracuse University, they usually ask me two things: how are the basketball games? and how do I deal with the snow? The basketball games let me first say are amazing. As for snow, Syracuse is one of the snowiest cities in the country so boots and long, heavy jackets are essential from January to late March. I got used to walking through snowstorms last year, but this is the first time I’ve had my car on campus, and driving is a whole other story.
I arrived to school this semester late on a Monday night, and classes started Tuesday. I drove in during a snowstorm, so I decided to park my car in a parking lot close to my dorm (a lot I am not actually permitted to park in.) When I woke up early the next morning to move my car back to South Campus, I groaned when I saw that my tires were almost completely buried. I had brought two shovels from home, so I called my roommate and together we started shoveling(shoutout to my awesome roomie.) After about half an hour, we were finally able to turn my car on and back it out a few feet. Unfortunately, our luck did not last. I don’t have four-wheel drive (basically a necessity in ‘Cuse), and my tires screeched and skidded in place. I would push the car, my roommate would try to drive, then we’d switch.
This lasted for about fifteen minutes until a few people, whom neither of us knew, walked by and asked if we needed help. They didn’t have any gloves on, and it was still quite dark, but they were adamant about helping us get the car moving. They put their backpacks down and pushed with me in the snow. We slipped, fell, and stumbled for another ten minutes, until finally the car backed out into the road. My roommate and I actually started cheering, and all I could say to those people was “Thank you so much!” As I drove to South Campus, I reflect on how nice it is to live in a community where everyone is so kind and willing to take the time out of their day to lend a hand to someone who needs it. Those people could have just chuckled at the sight of us and moved on, but they didn’t. They saw someone who was clearly having a tough time, and they took action to help.
Ironically enough, I also realized while I was driving back to South campus that I had my emergency break on the entire time we were pushing the car (facepalm). Well, that will be the first thing I check next time I get stuck in the snow!
Samantha Trombley ’18, is public relations and policy studies major. She is originally from Franklin, CT. Sam is a member of Hill Communications, the on-campus public relations firm. She is also a member of the Girl Code Movement, the women’s club lacrosse team, and the Kappa Alpha Theta women’s fraternity. In her free time she enjoys hiking, volunteering, traveling, and spending time with friends. More blogs from Samantha Trombley.
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