Bundled Up: How Out-Of-State Students are Dealing with the Winter

As the weather changes from fall sweaters to full-on parkas, the Illinois winter begins. To the Illinois native, the negative temperatures and mountains of snow are normal. But for students coming to Elmhurst University from out of state, it can be almost a culture shock and something to get used to.

In EU’s Office of Information Services 2024-2025 data book, a statistic stated that out-of-state students make up more than 15% of 2024 freshmen and almost 8% of transfers.

When students attend EU hailing from warm states, they have to navigate how to deal with  sometimes below-freezing temperatures.

A headshot of Brandon Yeh, a sophomore student hailing from California. (Brandon Yeh)

Sophomore Brandon Yeh is from California and is on the golf team. He says that where he lives, “winter attire” consists of wearing two layers, such as a t-shirt with long sleeves underneath or a hoodie. He says that the lowest temperatures he experienced before coming here were about 54 degrees.

Yeh was very excited to come to Illinois to experience the snow. And he says it had some influence on his decision to come here.

“I’ve always dreamt of having snow fights or picking up snow and tossing it whenever I wanted. I’d just like to experience walking through it, especially if it’s powdery,” says Yeh.

Although he looked forward to the snow, an adjustment he had to make was learning how to play golf in the cold. He says that in California, he can play all year round, so he has found it to be an interesting adjustment to stop for the winters.

“It’s really hard to play in the cold, because when your body gets cold, it’s harder to move, which makes golfing harder in general,” says Yeh.

Senior Amanda Torres Mirabal came to Elmhurst for volleyball and track and field. She remembers the first time she saw snow when she was here on her recruit visit.

Senior Amanda Torres Mirabal poses with a snowman on the mall. Mirabal hails from Puerto Rico. (Amanda Torres Mirabal)

Being from Puerto Rico and now living in Florida, Miribal was not used to having multiple different seasons and says she overpacked for the winter her freshman year.

“I had the fleece-lined leggings, fleece-lined long sleeves, small puffers, puffer vests, and then I had three big coats, ” said Torres Miribal. “If anything, I probably use one of those things now.”

Miribal says the coldest moment she has had here was her sophomore year, when it was around -14 degrees. She says she was underprepared and still had to walk in the awful cold.

“It was January, there was no sun, it was windy as heck, and then it’s just freezing,” said Miribal. “There was also black ice everywhere, so on top of me feeling the suffering of the cold, I also had to suffer from  avoiding black ice and not falling on my butt.”

Out-of-state students have to make adjustments when facing colder weather and learn how to layer up, but there are also things to enjoy about the winter and many ways to stay warm.