In the wake of the “Polar Vortex,” students of the tri-campus community experienced some of the most severe weather South Bend has seen in years, advancing the city’s weather status from its usual permacloud into a genuine frozen tundra. As everyone posted on their Snapchat stories about South Bend’s temperatures being colder than Antarctica and hot water freezing in midair, the entire tri-campus community suffered the effects of the bitter cold. Holy Cross literally shut down, The Huddle Mart ran out of everything edible and some puppies got caught in the cold, though they were rescued and returned to their owners, thank God. I know, I was worried.

Fortunately, I only had to go outside for 40 seconds total during the height of the Vortex, since my dorm, Farley Hall, is conveniently located right next to North Dining Hall. RIP to anyone who lives in Carroll. Though temperatures have fortunately risen above zeros, it’s still way too cold, and Notre Dame isn’t willing to cancel class until April. Sad! Still, if you hate the cold, there are some ways you can minimize exposure to the elements.

From North Quad to DeBartolo Hall

I recently discovered you can walk through both Stepan Chemistry Hall and O’Shaughnessy Hall en route to DeBart or Duncan Student Center. Stepan reminds me of a hospital from a horror movie, but then again, as an English major, anything science-related is scary to me. O’Shag offers a great opportunity to find out about every single event on campus, ever. It is a little sad to see the chrome-plated fanciness that replaced Waddick’s, but I’m over it. Mostly.

From North Quad to God Quad

There are a few options for this. My personal favorite, the fastest and the most convenient is to cut through LaFortune Student Center — the one true love of my life. It is consistently warm, smells of bread and sometimes coffee and offers a myriad of opportunities to blow some Flex Points at Starbucks or the candy wall at The Huddle. Thank you, LaFun, for always bringing feeling back into my legs during a late-night walk back from Observer production.

From God Quad to South Quad

Nothing. There’s nothing. If Notre Dame is a battlefield of students vs. the cold, South Quad is the front lines. The most anyone can do is try to walk as fast as possible and wear a hat, but in times of war, the cold yields to no one.

Stay warm out there, and remember, the groundhog saw his shadow, but South Bend breaks winter for no one. Hopefully, we’ll be seeing the sun any day now.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

Tags: Campus life, cold, Polar Vortex, Snow Day