By Jamil Oakford/editor-in-chief

Students react to snow days

Texas finally got the memo about winter … well, for a week anyway.

Several inches of snow hit Feb. 27 forcing the district to close operations on all campuses at 9:45 a.m. after classes had started. The weather got so severe that campuses remained closed through weekend college.

This came after sleet hit North Texas starting late Feb. 22, causing TCC to shut down all five campuses and district offices for two days.

“I missed one day of classes,” NE student Rachel Cook said about the two-day closure. “It does speed up your classes, but I don’t mind it.”

For the group that makes the decision to close campuses across the district, sometimes it’s not an easy call to make.

District vice chancellor of communications and external affairs Reginald Gates is one of the people who makes these calls.

“We make them based on the weather service,” he said. “We have to consider not just the roads, but the accessibility of the parking lots and also the campuses.”

Gates explained that with Chancellor’s Executive Leadership Team members and an emergency weather team, a decision is reached after careful consideration.

But for students trying to make it to classes on campus Feb. 27, the late call was a little more than frustrating.

TR student Alejandro Rodriguez said the cancellation came a little too late for him.

“I leave to school around 8:45 and no warning yet,” Rodriguez said. “I’m stuck in traffic for about an hour only to find out all campus[es] closed immediately.”

And for many students leaving classes that already started, they experienced the traffic nightmare that turned typically decent or bearable commutes into long and treacherous quests.

Some students were forced to wait at school nearly all day, waiting for a ride.

TR early college high school student Stephanie Guerrero took to Twitter to explain her struggle.

“So pissed at my parents,” she said. “TCC closed at 10, so I waited at TABS until 4:05.”

Those who were lucky not to have early morning classes found the benefits of the cancellation.

“I saved gas, a lot of gas, and I also caught up on reading,” NW student Andres J. Munoz said.

Munoz said he’s also worried about how behind he might get in his classes because of all the days off.

NE student Richard Gunter said he was excited at first but realized the strain this must have put on the faculty.

“And then you realize that the faculty has it a little worse than you since they have to backtrack and take care of everything in a certain amount of time,” he said.

The late delay on Feb. 27 was understood for most students as Texas weather can be unpredictable most of the time.

“No one knew how much snow was going to hit Texas,” NE student Alex Ignacio said. “But they did make the right decision canceling classes when they did.”