Juno: The Shut Down

By: Connor Lenahan

This is what every Boston University student and I woke to this morning. More than 20 inches of fresh snow and more swirling in the air. Wait, is swirling the right word? The winds were in the high enough mile-per-hour range that I could have flown a kite across the Atlantic Ocean.

As was expected Boston University did not open for business today. Students and faculty were able to advised to stay indoors unless a venture outdoors was necessary. I stood by this recommendation. My wheelchair barely works in the rain, why risk it with snow? My roommates Pat, Arie, and David, along with my girlfriend Laura all elected to venture into the wild white wonderland. They all came back reporting the same things. A crazy amount of snow on the ground, extreme winds, blocked sidewalks, harsh conditions.

With this in mind I had my decision made up by the early afternoon. No school for me. Way, way too big of a safety risk for me. While others can lace up their boots and trudge to class I need to have a fully cleared pathway to safely get to classes and work. Every report I got said that not only was this not the case, but it was far from it.

This would make sense later in the evening as BU announced that school would again be closed tomorrow. Some reports came earlier than others. That means I’ll be spending upwards of 60 hours in my room in a row. I’m not leaving this building until I know I’m not going to be stranded and awaiting a death by Yeti attack.

We have held up well in our base camp. Chicken nugget rations are at an acceptable rate. General camaraderie has been observed between the survivors of the Juno storm. Oreos have been consumed and then consumed more. In reality this storm has been one of the most fun things to happen to me, and really most everyone I’ve talked to, in college thus far.

Laura and I laughed at how for some, mainly her, this counts as her first two snow days ever. I told her that this was my third, before clarifying that if high school counts then you could probably mark half a year in canceled class days for Abington Heights (and when you consider my injury history costing me close-to-if-not a full year of class… Wow).

We have survived the storm thus far. Tomorrow will be the day to prepare to battle the storm head on. Tomorrow we would have lost. Thursday, we still might lose. Honestly? If that bridge/the sidewalks aren’t good then I still won’t leave. Look at the top of this page. I don’t stay Unbreakable if I end up wheelchair skiing into a hospitality major and snapping my wrist. I’m playing this one close to the chest.

As always, be safe and the snow is amazing. Juno, ultimately, is going to be one to remember.