Heartwarming stories to fight the cold winter weather
Grand Rapids is slowly disappearing under all the lake effect snow, but some are finding ways to fight the cold by working together. Gathered from across the campus, here are some heartwarming stories to help you chase away the frigid temperatures.
Students shovel snow for their neighbors
On the popular Overheard at Calvin Facebook page, Ryan Souders, the men’s soccer coach, posted a screenshot from his neighborhood Facebook group, which brought attention to seven Calvin students who shoveled the sidewalks of their neighbors. The poster commended the students, saying, “You are amazing and your help is much appreciated!” Above the screenshot, Souders thanked the unnamed students “for representing Calvin so well.”
Senior Maria Emerson shared a scene she saw on Monday, January 28. A car became stuck in the snow, and the problem became worse when a plow, attempting to help, became stuck as well.
“The guys in the car were Calvin students who were driving around with shovels to shovel people’s’ driveways,” Emerson said. She regretted that she did not know their names.
It seems shoveling has been an activity that many students are filling their time with. Junior Jayvin Wolfe, when talking about the time he spent with his roommates shoveling, said, “It was kind of cool when we had to clean out the roads because the plows didn’t come to our road.”
Mail delivery finally arrives
A mail delivery that filled an entire van arrived at the residence hall Bolt-Heyns-Timmer (BHT) Tuesday afternoon, making up for the estimated past four days it was unable to arrive because of the weekend and the snow.
“I could not believe it when I saw the mailing services van pull up by BHT in the overpowering blizzard. Consumerism has gone too far,” said senior Hae In Kim, the deskie present at the time of delivery. “I saw the van deliver mail to SE and was surprised that it didn’t come to BHT afterwards… [then] the van came through and poured out its guts at me.”
Piles of packages were brought to the BHT reading room as there was not enough room behind the front desk, and passing residents were invited to search for their packages while the deskie prepared to organize where they should go.
Grace VanHaitsma, a first-year student living in BHT, was pleased when the mail finally arrived. She had been anxiously awaiting a package since Saturday.
“I was really stressed out because it contained clothes I needed for a concert on Tuesday evening,” said VanHaitsma. “I was unaware of how the weather affected the mail, but it definitely was an experience because I got the package about 15 minutes before I had to leave Tuesday night.”
Students in KHVR take part in an impromptu dance party to combat cabin fever.
Pancakes and a Swing dance party in KHvR
The Kalsbeek-Huizenga-vanReken dorm community took advantage of the second campus-wide snow day on Wednesday, Jan. 30, by having a pancake breakfast for all residents. The residence hall executive team provided the pancakes, coffee and orange juice for students so they wouldn’t have to walk outside to the dining hall in -30 degree windchill temperatures.
On Wednesday night, KHVR residents also formed an impromptu swing dancing party in the basement. Students danced to swing favorites like “Footloose” and “Cotton-Eyed Joe” to combat cabin fever.
“It was nice that people were willing to teach others and it was really casual,” first year student Michelle Merritt said. “I enjoyed just having a fun dance party. It was fun doing Cotton-Eyed Joe.”
