Students brave the snow as spring semester gets underway at WSU Pullman

January 14, 2020 6:00 PM

Taylor Graham,

Posted: January 14, 2020 6:00 PM

by Taylor Graham

PULLMAN, Wash. — If Cougs can survive the heartbreak that comes with a football season, then they can pretty much survive anything – like getting back to Pullman in time for spring semester, even though it does not feel anything like spring at the moment.

Washington State University freshman Sarah McTiernan was stuck on Snoqualmie Pass for three hours over the weekend before she could get to Pullman. Her drive ended up taking her twice as long as it normally does.

“It usually takes four hours but when I was coming over on Saturday, the pass was closed for three hours so we were just sitting there,” said McTiernan. “Then eventually, we made it to Pullman and were waiting in traffic, so it took a total of like, nine hours to get here.”

To make matters worse, she lost her phone in the snow.

“Recently I was playing in the snow and I lost my phone in the snow. I searched the night I lost it and the next morning… It was gone. It’s submerged in deep snow,” said McTiernan, who is now using her iPad to get in touch with her friends and family.

Safe to say, it’s been a rough start to McTiernan’s first winter in Pullman. Though other students, like senior Connor Henrickson, told 4 News Now they’ve seen it much worse on the Palouse.

“There’s kind of a sense that it’s not really, the semester isn’t really happening if it’s not snowing at some point,” he said. “Everybody kind of, who knows what’s going on is like ‘we got you, we’ll take care of you.'”

Because to these kids – and so many others – that’s what being a Coug is all about.

“Just know that it gives us some character… I think on the west side, west side students, they get snow and it’s like ‘oh, fun!’ but here it’s just a norm,” laughed freshman Emily Foley. “So, this goes out to all the Huskies actually, who are in the snow right now – us Cougs have character and we are strong.”

They’ll weather this storm together, but they wouldn’t mind if it stopped soon.

“When you watch someone else fall, or you know when people have fallen because they have wet spots on their jeans, it’s like ‘I’m sorry, I understand.’ We’re all in it together,” said McTiernan. “I don’t really mind it, but I would prefer to see the ground.”