Whenever I tell people that I go to Skidmore, I get one of two automatic responses.
The first is, “Where is that? I’ve never heard of it.” Addressing this question calls for another article.
And the second is, “It’s so cold up there.”
Why, yes. It is cold. Very cold. It’s quite awful, actually.
I struggle with mental health issues in general and there’s no question that they get amplified during the winter months. I have friends who do not experience clinical depression or Seasonal Affective Disorder, and even they struggle. Unfortunately, winter is upon us and as much as I joke that I would do anything and everything in my power to stop it, I think it’s time to accept reality.
Based of my personal experience, here are some ways I recommend keeping yourself sane during the winter months in Saratoga:
Sleep.
I am starting off my list on a somewhat (or rather very) hypocritical note. Sleep is an area I don’t particularly excel in. But what I can say is that when I do sleep, I notice a drastic difference in my mood. Trudging to class in three feet of snow on three hours of sleep for weeks at a time is not worth it, trust me. Get your sleep. You’ll thank me.
Remain honest with professors.
The reason I don’t sleep is because I am always doing homework. Whether I like to admit it or not, I am far less productive during the winter months. If you aren’t sleeping and you feel like your mental health is going down the drain, and you’re planning on calling it quits--probably thinking about hitchhiking to Florida--be honest with the adults on campus. No one wants your mental health to suffer, and typically, professors are horrified to learn how sleep-deprived we actually are. Not to mention that they are probably overwhelmed and depressed at times as well. Whether opening up to a professor means getting extra help, a little extra time for an assignment, or a good ol’ heart to heart conversation, I guarantee you it's worth it.
Vitamin D supplements.
I am about the furthest one can get from being a doctor, so read my words with an ounce of skepticism. With that being said, taking Vitamin D supplements has improved my quality of life, especially during the winter. Next time you go to the doctor, ask if Vitamin D supplements would be right for you. If not the supplement itself, there are other ways to increase your Vitamin D content in the winter. Drink orange juice! Bundle up and go outside-- just because it’s cold does not mean it is not sunny.
Keep exercising.
It can be so hard to maintain a workout routine when it’s cold out, but exercising can do wonders for your mental health. Book an appointment at the gym, take a walk through the snow, take a Zoom yoga class with a friend, or even go for a snowy Adirondack hike.
Embrace it.
Another hypocritical statement on my part, but you can’t do anything about the weather so you might as well embrace it. Go ice skating. Take a walk downtown; North Broadway is absolutely beautiful in the winter time. Treat yourself to a festive drink. Brag to all your friends at home about the subzero temperatures!
Bond about the cold.
As High School Musical so eloquently puts it, “We’re all in this together.” This is a weird one, but trust me: the brutal temperatures prove to be a wonderful conversation starter. On a particularly cold day during my freshman year, I made eye contact with a girl outside McClellan Hall and decided to say, “It’s so cold out.” Turns out, she hated the cold too. That same girl, Emma, has been my absolute best friend ever since. See, not everything about the cold has to be awful!
Countdown the days until you move to a warmer place.
Had to include this one, because it helps a lot. If nothing else on this list helps, just recognize that you don’t have to stay in the cold forever.