Frigid temperatures upon the return to school have hit everyone hard, but the icy conditions might affect those hailing from closer to the equator the most.

“I’ve seen snow, but I’ve never lived in it for an extended period of time, so it’s definitely different,” said Morgan Worry ‘29 from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Worry noted the temperature back home dropped to a whopping 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Eitan Greenberg ‘29 of Miami echoed her sentiment.

“There’s not much of a winter in Florida — this is the coldest I’ve ever lived in,” he said.

“I wear my beanie everywhere,” Greenberg added. “My ears being cold is the worst.”

Even for those from places that do get snow, it can take some adjusting to understand the culture around inclement weather.

“In Texas, there will be like two inches, and we’ll get school off for like a week,” Dallas-native Samantha DeSimone ‘29 said. “Here there’s so much, and I still have to go to class.”

Some students came prepared before travelling to school, but many did not anticipate the extreme conditions necessary for the cold.

Braeden Allen ‘29 from Scottsdale, Arizona, said he started prepping for the Pennsylvania winter in August.

“I never had a winter jacket before coming to college here, and I got gloves today,” Allen said.

“This year I actually learned how to layer,” said Cortez Estrada ‘28, another Californian.

Students from all over the world reported experiencing a similar adjustment.

“I honestly didn’t think it would be this cold,” said Sumeya Sufrian ‘29 of Ethiopia. She noted that Ethiopia has two major seasons: wet and dry.

Snow isn’t an issue at home for these students, but they face other weather problems that those from the tri-state area might not. Greenberg is used to school cancellations in Florida due to hurricane watches. Californians, meanwhile, have to stay indoors because of the air quality from wildfires occasionally.

Even through the bitter cold, many Lafayette College students enjoy what the Northeast has to offer. 

“One of the reasons I chose to go to Lafayette was because of the different weather and being on the East Coast,” Allen said. He described the zero-degree humidity and 120-degree Fahrenheit summers in Arizona.

Cortez said she also appreciated these aspects of Lafayette.

“I love being able to experience all four seasons over here, and being able to see the changes in nature has been the highlight,” she said.

Sufrian, meanwhile, is “a firm believer in West Coast best coast.”