After a big snowstorm hit Lake Placid and upstate New York, the Northwood community was sent back in time to the days when socializing was a thing.
Source: https://downdetector.com/
The snowstorm hit Lake Placid early in the early evening last Thursday and continued until late night Friday, leaving behind over twenty centimeters of snow. With the exception of the skiers, all the Northwood athletic teams were home hosting all sporting events. As a result, many teams had difficulty making the journey to Lake Placid. Fortunately, all visiting teams arrived safe and sound. All Northwood teams competed and fought hard with all teams winning their games.
The snowstorm, however, was the least of the students’ worries as widespread internet outages forced students to adjust to living without WiFi. The timing was difficult because it came at the beginning of the last week of the trimester, which is typically packed with tests, papers and other major assignments. Everyone struggled, faculty included. Teachers were unable to teach their planned lessons, and students were unable to complete assignments. But most heartbreaking was that students were unable to talk to one another through their phones. With Snapchat, TikTok, and Instagram down, students seemed unable to communicate with each other.
Source: Adirondack Daily Enterprise
Students suffered. Ashlyn McGrath ‘21 said, “it was awful, I didn’t know what to do as everything I normally did wasn’t accessible. I couldn’t do anything: homework, TikTok, social media, or talk to my parents as a result.”
It was all bad for everyone, though. Bernardo Simoes ‘20 used the internet outage as a time to try different things. “As I was unable to connect to any internet, I spent my time listening to music and reading a book.”
Academically, the Wi-Fi outage caused many setbacks; however, faculty are being very helpful and flexible as students did their best under the circumstances. But the bright side was that students were forced to talk to each other. It was observed that roommates who normally speak very little to each other, preferring instead to text or Snap, were forced to use their words when the internet was down. “The struggle was real,” said one Husky.
The internet blackout kept all Huskies off social media and prevented them from completing their academic assignments, but the Northwood faculty worked hard to make this time easier for all, and WiFi has since been restored and students are ready for February Break.
