Known for its humid summers and mild winters, Texas has surprised everyone with the snowstorm that recently took place. What was expected to be one to two days of thorough snowfall, turned out to be a week’s worth of staying indoors with power outages and boredom for many. 

The snow storm hit on February 11th and continued to reshape the lives of many Texans for the next week. With its extremely cold temperatures it brought problems like pipes bursting, food leaving store shelves faster than being stocked, and of course, ongoing power outages for over half the state. People had to quickly adjust and figure out ways to stay comfortable, especially since if they lost power they had no access to a heater or warmth. Children, teens, and adults all over Texas had to spend days without a heater in colder temperatures than they had experienced before. Many had little to no ways to stay warm, with firewood becoming scarce during the harsh weather. While huddling together in a big blanket is great for bonding, it is not so fun when the tips of your nose and toes feel like they are freezing off, as many people like freshman Giordana Calderin felt. 

“The first two days we didn’t have any power and it was so cold to the point where I could almost see my breath if I coughed or something. We had to stay inside because the road outside of our house was icy so we couldn’t stay with friends with power that offered to let us stay with them so most of that time I stayed in my bed under like 3 blankets and I wore layers of hoodies and socks. After the 2 days we got power back sometimes so the house was a little more heated up, but it was still the worst days ever,” says Calderin. 

Since Wifi was gone along with the electricity, many people had no access to Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, or any of the other social media they use day to day. While some people thought quick enough to download their favorite shows and movies on Netflix, others were preoccupied with trying to stay warm and do their daily tasks in the unique situation. When they weren’t freezing their toes off, people found ways, other than the internet, to keep themselves entertained. Students took the time to do things they wouldn’t normally do, like drawing, painting, and even reading, as freshman Esther Adegoke did. 

“I don’t really like reading cause it’s just too quiet and I have to sit in one place and just read for a long time but there was one book that I’ve been wanting to read for a long time. It’s called ‘Five Feet Apart’ and I wanted to read it cause the movie was good so during the storm when I had nothing to do I actually read the book and I even liked it. I don’t know if I’m gonna read more books but I didn’t expect this to be as good as it was so I might give other ones a chance,” says Adegoke.

Because it was supposed to be the last week of the 4th 6 weeks, many students and teachers were overwhelmed, trying to turn stuff in and make sure grades were okay. Although students were more stressed than ever to keep their grades from going down, teachers were also incredibly stressed for both themselves and their students. People like English teacher Jessi LaBonville were initially worried about squeezing in the last grades of the week but later grew to be more concerned about their students’ mental and physical health.

“I sent my students one or two messages via canvas via my phone that I had to rob away from my kids, 6 and 3, just saying things like hey and to finish their assignments due the next week. At first when I didn’t know the depth of despair we were about to head into I was like ‘I’ll’ give you 10 extra credit points if you do this or that blah blah blah’ because I knew the end of the six weeks would be quickly approaching but after that we weren’t back and I realized we were pretty much down for the countdown and so I posted an announcement through canvas and told them that they were living through a second historical event and that all I need was for them to just survive,” said LaBonville.

Of course, some Texans were lucky enough to have little to no problems during the snowstorm and instead got to enjoy a cozy break from school and work. Without much school work to do, it was like a fun week in. Not being able to talk to their friends when they needed to was stressful for many teens across the state, but thankfully people like freshman Tatyana Cenales used their lack of power loss to reach out to and comfort friends and family who weren’t fortunate enough to spend the extended break in warmth and solace.

“I’m so glad I didn’t lose power at all but I had lots of friends who didn’t have electricity and no wifi so I called them and they told me about it. I felt really bad for them because they couldn’t do anything, like even watch Tiktoks. With some of them I talked for hours so it was kinda fun to just relax and talk without having to worry about school stuff and power loss like some other people,” says Cenales. 

This snowstorm certainly wasn’t what many Texans had expected or experienced before but it was an event that they will remember for the rest of their lives. Although most don’t get to see snow often because of the state’s warm climate, they are looking forward to the breezy spring season when they’ll get to relax and not have to worry about freezing to death.