As the mid-term for Bucks students ends, and spring break draws near, winter storm “Stella” showers Pennsylvania residents with varying sizes of snow and ice.
Spring break, a time for students to take a break from school work (and those nasty midterms) and look forward to the warm weather and the remaining half of the semester, was instead met by snowstorm “Stella,” which accumulated up to 15 inches of a mixture of snow and ice in some areas.
The Nor’easter, which held varying sizes of snowfall all throughout Pennsylvania, was rated a Category three on the “ Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale (NESIS).”
With the winter seasons weather being all over the place, it’s no surprise that some had their doubts when it came to Stella’s arrival. Rachel Brown, 25-year old nursing major from Pennington had very little belief. “The panic at my job [Shoprite] was unreal, but no different than any other snow we’ve gotten before” she says, while preceding to laugh. “I didn’t really need anything during the snow, but I sure as hell regret getting any rock salt.”
Many students saw the possibility of being snowed in with the chance to recuperate from college work. “It’s always nice when it snows.” Said Katie Maroes, 23-year old business major from Levittown. “I was just going to spend the break sleeping, so the snow didn’t really change anything for me.”
“I wish the timing was a little different,” Zachery Cage stated, 23-year old history major from Pennsbury stated. “One week in before or after now, and we’d have more time off!”
While some saw the snow as an opportunity to catch up on well-needed sleep, others saw a business opportunity. Justin Condee, 30, literature major from Yardley, spent his spring break shoveling sidewalks and roads. “Nobody wants to shovel snow” he stated, with a grin spread across his face, “but $300 bucks in a day is way worth it.” With the snow being a chance for extra spending money, competition is almost expected. “People would show up to unpaved houses, shovel it halfway then go ask for money” he claimed. “It’s pretty messed up, but I can’t imagine the people inside were too disappointed.”
And for those who avoided the process of shoveling all together, they were met with an awful surprise of rock-solid ice surrounding their vehicles. Will Joubert, 19-year old business major from Pennsbury, spent “three god-forsaken hours” slowly whittling his car out. “I spent most of that time trying to seesaw the damn thing out, and probably messed up the transmission” he lamented. He is also now a firm believer that “kitty litter is useless when it comes to this sort of thing.”
With Stella being the end of the winter season, the beginning of spring and the last half of the semester, students can only hope for good weather here on out.