By Lydia Libby

The week of February 5 through February 10, 2017, was to be one SMCC students would remember. February 7, 8 and 9 all had delays or full snow days due to the inclement weather!

Now, everyone loves a day off, but when many students have three days off, they wonder what to do with themselves. Sure, they could stay in bed and watch Netflix all day and night, but why not mix the routine up a bit? Below is a list of suggestions for those who enjoy the arts, cooking, and exercising to spruce up your chilly days off from school.

If you enjoy the arts, maybe you decide to color. Coloring is known to relieve stress, and you can bring color into your life by filling in blank spaces on a coloring page. Or maybe you enjoy painting, and decide to get a paint-by-numbers kit — or set up an easel, if you’re an avid painter. Painting and drawing can be done in silence, or with the television on or a music playlist going in the background.

If you are the outgoing type and you love to dance, why not create your own choreography, dancing to your heart’s content? The best part is, you’re in the comfort of your own home!

On the opposite side of the spectrum, you could be the more reserved and quiet type that enjoys reading or writing. Reading is relaxing and improves brain function. When reading, you are continuously retaining words and information, or learning new words you have not heard of before. And writing can often give people the sense of release that coloring can, because it can be mindless, and an exhalation of the mind’s inner thoughts.

Maybe you are someone who enjoys precision and attention to detail, so you learn to make jewelry. Taking your mind off boredom may seem difficult at first, but the arts can certainly alleviate boredom.

If trying arts and crafts does not stop your woes of being inside, cooking probably will. Even if it is just coming up with your own version of a sandwich, cooking helps put a stop to boredom. Everyone needs to eat, so why not try cooking on these snow-globe-looking days? Learning how to cook can be fun, and it’s a fundamental life skill people should learn. Maybe you try cooking Italian cuisine, or maybe Thai cuisine. Cookbooks are sold everywhere, and recipes are always available online. Some people prefer holding a paper copy, so cookbooks are great when learning how to cook.

When living in the dorms, it can be difficult to learn how to cook, but hey, learning how to properly microwave food is important, too. Or if you do live in the dorms, maybe you have a friend who lives off campus who would be willing to brave the elements of our New England winter to pick you up so you could cook together. Cooking with another person can also be fun, and you can make a meal faster, because you have more than one person preparing the food.

Another fun and productive thing you can do alone or with others on a snow day is exercise. Some may put a Zumba tape in their DVD player and dance the day away. Others may do reps of sit-ups, crunches, and pushups. Maybe you have a treadmill or an elliptical rider at home and you work in some cardio on your snow day.

Exercising is a great way to ward off lassitude, because you need to focus and move your body, which helps you forget you are trapped at home during an ice age like the one we just experienced. Stretching is also a great form of exercising, because you are relaxing your muscles but improving your range of flexibility. No matter what form of exercise you choose, it will still knock out snow-day blues.

However you spend your snow day, just remember these helpful tips when trying to diminish boredom. You’ll never know how much snow we will get in Maine, so it is always good to have plans when you are snowed in. Productivity makes people feel positive, and you can even learn new skills.