New York City’s first major snowfall of 2025 turned the city into a winter wonderland by covering streets, sidewalks and numerous college campuses in gorgeous white snow. Some students chose to stay indoors in their comfy blankets with their favorite novels, drinking hot chocolate or even playing video games. Many other students went outside when they saw an opportunity for something more active, like a snowball fight.
On Saturday, Feb. 8 at 11:30 p.m., Fordham University students had their first-ever snowball fight of the season on Edwards Parade. Dominique Jack from PIX11 News stated, “According to forecasters from the National Weather Service, at least 7.6 inches of snow has fallen in the Big Apple since the start of 2025.” Students who were brave enough to go out in the cold got to witness a fun and magical snowball fight straight out of our very own childhood dreams. Students were running, dodging and throwing snowballs through the air under the glow of campus lights. There were no specific sections that were determined by year or major. This was just a bunch of college students being chaotic, having fun and fueled by laughter.
But this major snowfall, and our very own Rams having a snowball fight on Edwards Parade, raises the interesting question: “Are college students too old for a snowball fight?”
Some individuals might argue that snowball fights are for kids and that college students should instead be busy with exams, internships and many different adult responsibilities — not partaking in activities that are “solely” meant for children. But that mindset really does overlook a very important truth, and that truth is that joy doesn’t have an age limit; we’re allowed to have fun at any given age because we’re all human despite our responsibilities.
As a first-year at Fordham University, Akifa Hossain emphasized, “Our first year at college could be very different and challenging to adjust to. Tons of exams, essays and projects pile up. But being able to go outside and have fun in the snow with your friends makes us realize that we’re also human and are allowed to have fun even though we’re adults now with responsibilities.”
For many of us, snow days used to mean waking up early, turning on the television to Fox News, and hearing the magic words, “School is closed.” It also meant our parents layering us up and heading outside with us to play in the snow without a care in the world. As we grow older, those moments become rare, mainly because the last great snowfall New York City has seen was in January and February 2022. So finally seeing a decent amount of snow has filled New Yorkers with joy, especially students from the West Coast who may have never experienced a snowstorm. Snow days no longer guarantee a break from our daily lives, deadlines stay the same, emails pile up and Zoom meetings especially don’t care about the weather. But that’s exactly why moments like Saturday’s snowball fight are so valuable. They remind us that even though most of us are entering or are in adulthood, there is still some time to enjoy our lives and the world around us.
Young adults often spend their free time doing more solitary activities such as reading, knitting or watching movies. While there’s nothing wrong with that because winter is an extremely cold season, embracing winter doesn’t have to mean just staying indoors. Ice skating, sledding, skiing or even just stargazing on a nice cold winter night can be just as fun. As Abby Smith in her article in Mayo Clinic News Network, stated, “Playing in the snow brings laughter and exercise.” A snowball fight allows individuals to have a sense of playfulness that many of us have forgotten because, as children, we were always in a rush to grow up.
And let’s be honest, we all know that throwing a snowball at your friend or roommate is just fun in itself because you can all get a laugh out of it. There’s something about the sound of snow crunching under your boots, the nice wind of the cold air on your face and ears and the laughter that could explode when your friend aims for you and directly hits you with a snowball. All of these minor factors make the experience worth it. It’s one of those mini activities that can momentarily take us back to our childhood and help us remember what it’s like to be a kid.
No one is ever too old to have fun, and no one is ever too mature to throw a snowball. If anything, college students should embrace moments like these even more because who knows when we’ll get another chance to have a snowball fight with our college friends. Our lives will only get busier, responsibilities will only increase and opportunities for having fun will decrease.
So the next time the snow starts falling, don’t just watch the beautiful snow from your window. Go ahead and get some friends, bundle up with a heavy jacket and join the snowball fight. You might just surprise yourself by how much fun it is to experience what you once did as a kid.
Tahiyat Raisa, FCRH’28, is an English Major on the pre-law track from Queens, New York.
