N.C. A&T was completely unprepared for the snowstorm that hit Greensboro Friday, Jan. 29.  We knew it was coming, yet took no preparation.

The professors didn’t go over their “snow day” policies, leaving students confused on what to do if it did, in fact, snow. Do we just pause everything until the next class? Do we continue along with the syllabus? Do we e-mail the homework in?

None of these questions were answered in any of my classes. Some students got penalized due to the confusion. Others had to stuff a week’s worth of work into one night.

The MWF 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. classes didn’t meet all week! Some prior preparations should have been made to lessen the load we all got when we got back into class.

Another major problem was the communication from the university on the closings and delays. Aggie Alert was designed to help bridge the communication gap between the university and students, yet it did nothing but cause more confusion. Other colleges informed their students that classes were cancelled the night before; A&T students were left to speculate until the morning of.

I signed up for the Aggie Alert text messages, and I wouldn’t get text messages saying classes were cancelled until one or two hours before 8 a.m. classes were to start.

On Feb. 1 I didn’t even get a text until 7:30am. That is just ridiculous. Those students who have 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. classes are up and getting ready by 6 a.m. and 7 a.m., only to find out those classes are canceled moments before they leave. That is especially so for the students who don’t have Aggie Alert on their cell phones. 

Everybody can’t check their e-mail every minute to make sure classes aren’t canceled. Decisions need to be made the night before.

Last week there was a delay or cancellation every day except Thursday. A lot of this could have been avoided if the university would have handled things better. I know the South doesn’t normally get a lot of snow, but that doesn’t mean we should be unprepared when it does.

The most snow we got was 8 inches, and that is no reason for things to be at a standstill. The conditions of the roads after the first snowfall were terrible. If we had plowed the roads periodically throughout the weekend — instead of waiting until Monday and Tuesday — things wouldn’t have been as bad. You do not wait three to four days to plow the roads and shovel the sidewalks.

The longer you wait, the harder it is to get off. On top of that, it’s dangerous for the students who live on campus. It also makes no sense to leave piles of snow in the parking lot that take up parking spaces when we already have a parking issue here on campus.

Speaking of dangerous, let’s talk about how on Saturday Jan. 30, the day after the snowstorm, when the electricity went off in Village 4.

I live in Village 4. We were already snowed in because the university didn’t plow anything.

Then add no lights, no heat, spoiling food in the fridge, and a closed cafeteria. What were they trying to do to us? As usual, we got no Aggie Alert informing us of anything that was being done to fix the problem.

The electricity came back on about two hours later. I personally didn’t wait because I know how long it normally takes the lights to come back on without the roads being covered with snow.

I along with a few others decided to risk my life and abandon campus to seek food and shelter.

That may sound a little dramatic, but I’m serious. We had to drive on unplowed icy roads to get to Food Lion — where I found a number of A&T students shopping — so we could get something to eat and then to one of the nearby apartment complexes to stay. Those who stayed on campus were left with no electricity or heat for way too long.

Overall last week was just a mess. A&T cannot control the weather, but we can control how we prepare and handle things when bad weather hits. 

There is no reason why our safety should be put at risk. There is no reason why our grades should be in jeopardy due to lack of preparation. There is no reason why we should be left in confusion day after day for a week straight. A&T needs to come up with a better plan of attack.

I hope it will happen before the next snowstorm hits.

• Sylvia Obell