Students braved below freezing temperatures on Tuesday morning while walking to classes for their first day back.

This time last year, the morning temperature started out at about 17 degrees Fahrenheit; today, it was 10 degrees colder.

“It sucks pretty bad,” said Lynise Austin, a freshman fine arts major. “Luckily for me, my buildings are pretty close together today, but I’m just waiting for the buildup of the snow and ice to come and destroy everything.”

Austin also said she was hoping for a delay in classes due to the cold.

“Ashtabula (campus) was cancelled (last night) so I was really hoping so, but (that was) not the case,” Austin said.

Almost every student agreed: the more clothes worn, the better.

“Layers, layers and layers,” said Meghan Geist, a freshman political science major. “Anything to keep you warm, really.”

Shannon Baranauskas, a freshman digital media production major, said she would tell her friends to put on everything in their closet — and more — to stay warm while travelling to classes.

Other than bundling up, students offered alternative ways to keep the body from freezing.

“(I will) drink more coffee and probably go workout,” Baranauskas said.

Patchareya Promploy, a senior exercise science major, has similar plans to warm up once she returns home after a day of classes.

“After class I will go workout, probably eat some hot soup and stay inside,” Promploy said.

Kristen Faber, a senior fashion design major and barista at Jazzman’s Café, said she had expectations for a lot of people to come in later in the day to purchase hot drinks because of the cold.

Although the temperature was low in the morning, campus resumed as usual. Students knew they still needed to get to their classes.

“It’s cold, yeah. Very cold,” Geist said. “(But) I guess it really doesn’t matter. I have to get to class.”

Dana Miller is an assigning editor at The Kent Stater. Contact her at [email protected].