For some first-year students like me, it’s the most wonderful time of the year, and Dubuque’s hills finally are going to be good for something other than calf muscles.
Several times last year, I visited Loras. Each trip had one thing in common: Sledding mania. Right as I was about to be anxious about the overwhelmingly large buildings, a massive amount of information from admissions and the nervous energy coming from my mother, someone mentioned sledding and my heart was at ease.
Each tour guide described various things that students use to slide down the hills: Shower curtains, trays from the lunch room, mattresses, etc. Older Loras students told me they heard about a Clarke College student that used to slide down the hills on pop bottles that were duct-taped together.
Associatedcontent.com has a few more interesting ideas for sleds, including cardboard (even though it may only last a few times), old satellite dishes (I think there might be a few of these lying around in the area surrounding Loras), or a washing machine lid — uhhhh, can we use those at our leisure, maintenance crew?
Other possibilities: Storage tote lids, garbage can lids, plastic laundry baskets and even the top lid of a toilet seat
For my sled, I plan on using an inflatable floating pool bed that I found on sale at Walmart for the grand deal of $2.50. I even got one for my roommate, so we can frolic in the snow/relive our childhood.
Other first-year students are gearing up for some fun in the snow. “I definitely am planning on going sledding,” said Katherine Mack, “I usually use one of those round saucers; they go nice and fast.”
Sergio Perez, a first-year student from Chicago, said he has never gone sledding in his life, but he is considering the possibility. He thinks that the hill that Keane Hall sits on looks like a perfect place to feel the wind in his hair.
Beckman Hill also is considered a prime sledding slope, according to sledders of years past.
So, get out your makeshift sled. It sounds like a great way to celebrate the completion of this semester’s final exams — especially for us first-years.
