WARNING before you send your child to an upper Midwest cold weather college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to upstate NY for college and the effect is real. It is tough to quantify, and given that most teenagers are simply happy to be in college, tough to feel it happening. But I do think it is real. If it is sunny, the cold can be OK - Madison and Boulder especially get some decent sunshine in the winter. Dark and cold and gray = bad combo for some people.

The University of Colorado at Boulder has lots of sunny days. It is the opposite of what causes SAD.

[Anonymous]

Oh come on. I went to one of these schools. Yes, it is frigid and lacks sunshine. But, there are other things that indicate life on the frozen tundra besides sitting around waiting for spring: lots of parties, skiing, tubing, etc.

While I wouldn't say I -loved- the weather, you get used to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to upstate NY for college and the effect is real. It is tough to quantify, and given that most teenagers are simply happy to be in college, tough to feel it happening. But I do think it is real. If it is sunny, the cold can be OK - Madison and Boulder especially get some decent sunshine in the winter. Dark and cold and gray = bad combo for some people.

The University of Colorado at Boulder has lots of sunny days. It is the opposite of what causes SAD.

Reading comprehension much?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Cornell--can't get much worse than that.

There is an engineering in extreme upstate New York that is much more isolated than Cornell. Plus, Cornell has a lot of natural beauty and a nice college town (Ithaca).

RPI?

Ithaca has a lot of cold, grey days in the winter. But at least it doesn’t have lake-effect snow like Syracuse, Buffalo, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is real.

Had a relative who spent 5 years working for Boeing in Seattle. Couldn't deal with the overcast, rainy weather. Quit & moved to a state with lots of sunshine.

Gloomy, overcast, cold weather can be an issue in upstate New York and in much of the state of Maine.

Helps if one is active in outdoor activities such as ice skating, snowskiing, or igloo building.

People appear happier and more fit in warm weather areas.

But, when I was college-age, I just loved brisk, cold weather.

When we moved to Seattle, we quickly learned that it was a MUST to go somewhere sunny for mid-winter break (state of WA largely gets presidents week off of school). Even just for a 3-4 day long weekend to Arizona. But even better if you can swing Hawaii for the week. half the state heads to Hawaii for the week it seems.

You have to get some sunshine or you will be affected. I also purchased a SAD light (I call it my happy light) and use it daily during the winter> the light helps immensely

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is at Cornell--can't get much worse than that.

There is an engineering in extreme upstate New York that is much more isolated than Cornell. Plus, Cornell has a lot of natural beauty and a nice college town (Ithaca).

RPI?

Ithaca has a lot of cold, grey days in the winter. But at least it doesn’t have lake-effect snow like Syracuse, Buffalo, etc.

Personal opinion of someone who grew up near Rochester: the lake effect snow actually helps -- sure there's no sunlight, but at least there's always fresh snow sparking at you 24/7. Ithaca and places where it's cold/dreary without snow are the worst of both worlds.

[Anonymous]

When I went to school in the midwest, my earliest class was at 12. I lived a very night owl life for those years. I didn't notice the lack of sun, though I did appreciate when the weather was good.

[Anonymous]

OP, this has been known for decades, and yet, hundreds of thousands of students flock to these schools and do fine.

IOW, Breaking: there is less sunlight in the winter in the norhtern hemisphere and there are more cold, grey days in the upper midwest.

[Anonymous]

Same goes for New England. I went to college in the upper Midwest and grad school in northern New England. Long cold winters in both places. But if you like winter outdoor activities like I do it's great - I love to ski, took up cross country skiing briefly, went skating regularly, and overall loved it.

OP, I am sorry that something or someone in Michigan has caused you such harm, but you might find it helpful to just let it go rather than post a daily rant against weather there. Move on and just enjoy wherever you are now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This below was just published by a Michigan statewide outlet. The freezing weather and sunless skies cause acute seasonal depression. Students are on campus from September to April. The weather in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio is truly miserable and at its worst when kids are on campus. How bad it is?

How dreary is Michigan? Only 5 minutes of sunshine this month

Welcome to another dreary day in Michigan. The skies are overcast. The snow-covered ground matches the blah, boringly hazy color of the sky.

Is it morning or afternoon? Who can even tell?

Much of Michigan has gotten minimal daily sunshine recently, but we hadn’t realized how far down the sun tally we’d fallen until the National Weather Service reminded us with a dim little factoid they posted on social media late yesterday.

Brace yourself:

“In the first 5 days of January, we have recorded 5 minutes of sunshine in southeast Grand Rapids. Our last half-sunny day was December 28. Our last mostly sunny day? A month ago, December 4.”

https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/01/how-dreary-is-michigan-grand-rapids-has-had-5-minutes-of-sunshine-this-month.html

UW-Madison does not experience lake effect weather. Science matters.

[Anonymous]

go blue

[Anonymous]

My Southern California kid goes to UChicago and I got her a SAD light; lots of sizes and types available on amazon. Non-issue but important to know about it.

There is something else, though, that I've never heard of until lately...that is Vitamin D can be (absorbed or created, not sure which) through the skin via sunlight, or in our food. However; if your body is used to the sun and absorbing it that way, it doesn't "know" how to switch to absobring from food, so kids from more sunnier climates can get a severe deficiency and need to take supplements.

(sorry I'm not more precise on this; it's from my friend, who's son who went from SoCal to upstate NY--but you get the gist )

[Anonymous]

I moved from Colorado to Atlanta and sttruggled the first winter due to weeks of rainy weather. In my case it wasn't just the gray skies, but the inability to go outside for weeks. I'm not sure how college students get to classes when it is cold and rainy out.

[Anonymous]

Isn't Maine dark much of the day for extended periods all winter?

Aren't Oregon and Washington State grey and rainy for most of the winter?

I am not sure why you are linking this "risk" to the Midwest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isn't Maine dark much of the day for extended periods all winter?

Aren't Oregon and Washington State grey and rainy for most of the winter?

I am not sure why you are linking this "risk" to the Midwest.

Specifically…Michigan.