Clutching cardboard boxes, household items and skis, students all across campus hit the snow despite the issuance of a winter storm warning for the Columbia area.
Starting on the afternoon of Jan. 21, Winter Storm Enzo brought close to an inch of snow to Columbia. Snow began to stick as the evening went on, covering fields, buildings and roads in a layer of white.
Large crowds gathered in areas with steep hills to go sledding, including Bull Street, Blatt Field and Athletic Village. Fourth-year exercise science student Alex Su brought his skis to Blatt Field to ski down the hill.
“I've been skiing with my family since middle school, so it's something that I love to do, and I've invested in skis," Su said. "It's probably one of my favorite things to do in the winter, for sure."
Lack of proper sleds didn’t stop others from enjoying the snow. Students used anything they could find, from cardboard to kayaks, as sleds. First-year biological sciences student Bryce Stainback used a reusable Aldi grocery bag he found as his sled.
“You just gotta make do with what you’re given," Stainback said. "I was gonna go with a skateboard, and it wasn't working. And I'm not joking, I literally found (the bag) by this tree, and I'm like, it looks fine. Got on it and it rode perfectly. I was like, sweet, let's go sledding.”
Winter Storm Enzo brought snow to Columbia for the first time in three years, making this the first time most of the student body has seen snow at USC. Fourth-year accounting student Carter Moorer recalled his past memories of snow on campus.
“We saw (snow) second semester freshman year, and it was awesome," Moorer said. "We went to the Horseshoe and had snowball fights and everything like that. And so it's cool to be able to have it one more time."
In-state students were especially enthralled by the snow since it rarely snows in Columbia. Stainback, from Fort Mill, South Carolina, has fond childhood memories of snow.
Students walk through the Campus Village area of campus as snow falls from the sky on the evening of Jan. 21, 2025. Columbia received approximately 0.8 inches of snow from a rare winter storm.
“(My) parents went to college up in Boone (North Carolina), so when I was a little kid, we’d go up there, and I always saw snow, and we never really got that in Fort Mill," Stainback said. "So it's always nice, once in a while, to get snow down here. It's just a nice change of the environment."
First-year anthropology student Madison Ansley, who has lived in both Florida and Texas and only seen snow twice in her life, had mixed reviews.
“It makes me very happy. I like the crunchy snow that I get to walk in,” Ansley said. “I wish that snow was warm, because if this was here in like, three days, I’d probably cry and not come out of my room. But yeah, I’m enjoying it for right now.”
Some students from the North, on the other hand, weren’t impressed with the Southern snow.
"This is nothing," first-year social work student Peyton Carris said, comparing the snow to the weather in her home state of New York.
While some students bundled into heavy winter gear to venture outside, others lacked a wardrobe suited for snowy weather and had to make do with the clothes they had.
“I’m very unprepared," Ansley said. "I’m wearing five shirts and two pairs of pants and three (pairs of) socks, but I’m enjoying it.”
Students like first-year political science student Jeremiah Palmer were out in the snow until after midnight, hopeful the university would completely cancel classes on Jan. 22.
"I saw that classes were canceled from (before noon) ... hopefully they get canceled," Palmer said. "I'm not trying to go to my 3:55 p.m.(class)."
Several changes in cancellations on Jan. 21 had left students like Moorer unsure of how the weather would impact the school week.
“I really believed in the university that they were going to cancel classes today (Jan. 21) for the whole day, and they didn't," Moorer said. "So you never really know."
The snowfall interrupted the second week of classes, and students will likely attend only one full day of classes as the university opened at noon on Jan. 23. However, the snowfall provided a way for students to come together, have fun and make lasting memories.
“I definitely have a few days and memories that stuck out to me positively during the first semester. And this is definitely one of those days for second semester, like, 100% it's just fun. Everybody's out here, just having a blast ... even though it's freezing. It's just, you know, laughing…makes you warm and whatnot. So it's awesome. I love it,” Stainback said.