Written by Jess Unger
Just to endure your first semester at SLC, you’ll need every type of clothing there is—from flip-flops and short-shorts to a heavy wool coat and mittens. Both weather extremes of the East Coast—muggy heat and bitter cold—come to play at SLC. The abundance of leafy trees means that autumn is visually spectacular, but be prepared for a long, grim, cloudy winter. Every year, a few classes get canceled or delayed because of snow. College employees sometimes work all night shoveling paths, salting staircases, and plowing roads, but you should still plan to trudge through knee-deep snow a few times per year (also, keep an eye out for friends armed with snowballs!). During February and March, students hole up in dormitories and often complain of a campus-wide malaise. Fortunately, by April, the skies clear and good moods return. The lawns fill with sun-tanners, Frisbee players, and outdoor loungers. Maybe the harsh winter makes the subsequent spring all the more uplifting.
One bit of advice: bring a fan! The rooms get very hot—especially, believe it or not, in the winters, when the building heating systems turn dormitories into saunas. Pack clothing for every kind of imaginable weather, including rain gear, the necessity which students most often forget.