Amherst College turned me into a speed demon. The town got five inches of snow on Sunday (1/19). What did students do in the snow? We went sledding (duh)! We also raced one another. Unsurprisingly, I won.
I hadn’t gone sledding since I was little and was definitely afraid to go down the giant hill at Amherst (Memorial Hill). However, I felt safe with my peers and knew that if anything happened to me, Amherst Emergency Medical Services (ACEMS) would be there to help. With that in mind, I faced my fears and sped down the hill. Yes, I fell off my sled A LOT, but the snow cushioned my falls, and I became better at controlling the sled and preventing it from tipping over.
It felt so wholesome to see college students enjoying themselves and connecting with one another. I loved seeing professors, their children, and dogs sledding down Memorial Hill. People shared their sleds with strangers and gave each other sledding tips (keep hands and feet in the sled at all times!). Seeing the brilliant smiles of students going sledding for the first time was delightful. There were also students from Umass Amherst at Memorial Hill who brought giant snow tubes. This demonstrates just how great the Amherst College sledding atmosphere is for students from different colleges to have come.
My friends and I used our liberal arts education to combine five sleds to create a train of eight people going down the hill simultaneously. It worked beautifully!! Going sledding was my favorite memory at Amherst– I will never forget it. I got so much closer to my peers, and all my worries vanished during the two hours I spent outside sliding down hills.
Hopefully, this has convinced you to apply to Amherst College or–at the very least– a college in New England for the quintessential Northeast snow. If you have any questions about my experience, want to learn about other places to sled at Amherst, or anything else, contact me at ipatel28@amherst.edu.