As much as I love waking up to a blanket of snow across the Timothy Dwight courtyard and the resulting snowball fights and photoshoots that accompany a snow day, wintertime in New Haven is honestly quite bleak. As a native New Yorker, one would assume that I’d be accustomed to the teeth-chattering and gloomy skies of the Northeast winter. However, upon returning to New Haven after the winter break, I am reminded of how dreary winter can be. Unlike December, when students can look forward to the holidays, it feels as if the only thing students look forward to in February is the midterms that occur at the end of the month.
While February is the shortest month of the year, at Yale, it feels as if February is the longest month of all. Unlike other months in the school year, where students can look forward to breaks and major holidays, February has no breaks or major holidays to look forward to. Besides this, February is also the second coldest month in New Haven (January is the coldest month but we have winter break during that time). Although this may be disheartening, I am always pleasantly surprised by the number of activities Yale has to offer during February.
Although the events that take place during February are not the most festive, students and staff at Yale make the most of what February has to offer. For instance, on Superbowl Sunday, Yale Hospitality and the dining hall staff deck out the residential college dining rooms and serve a game-day-inspired menu. From football-themed décor to a nacho bar with a colorful array of toppings, the Superbowl Sunday dinner is a pleasant change from the rotating dining hall menu. After a hearty meal, during Superbowl Sunday, groups of students disperse to watch the Superbowl. Even if you may not enjoy watching football, Superbowl watch parties are a great way to meet people and catch up with friends.
Besides the Superbowl, students and staff also make the most out of Valentine’s Day. Several weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, students answer surveys from Datamatch and Marriage Pact in attempts to find friends and meet new people. Although the results from these surveys don’t often lead to new friendships, answering the survey questions is a fun weekend activity with friends. On Valentine’s Day, the bleakness of February is forgotten as student organizations give out flowers and sweet treats in Cross Campus. Once again, just like the Superbowl, the dining hall staff decorate the residential college dining halls with varying shades of red, white, and pink, and serve desserts such as cheesecake and even a chocolate fountain.
YDN’s thoughts on Datamatch and Marriage Pact
Besides Yale Hospitality and student-organized social events from the Superbowl and Valentine’s Day, residential colleges at Yale also work towards making February a more joyous month. In my residential college (Timothy Dwight), students were able to go ice skating in the Ralph Walker Skating Rink. Only just a mile from Yale’s campus, the outdoor ice-skating rink provided students a distraction from their schoolwork and was a great way to meet new people within their residential college. Besides the ice-skating trip, Timothy Dwight, as well as many other residential colleges, funded a ski trip for its students. While I am not the best ice-skater or skier, these outings serve as a reminder that the Northeast winter does have its perks and made me appreciate the last few weeks of winter.
As I write this blog post, even after experiencing all the February festivities, I am still glad that February is almost over. While I am appreciative of being on campus, I am excited for the warmer weather and late sunsets that springtime has to offer.
