Summer vacation for University students has come to an end, and Oregon’s famous rainy weather has already arrived. Returning students recall their experiences with Eugene’s seasons and share some advice for those new to campus.
“The weather in Oregon is bipolar,” said sophomore Lindsey Shultz, a human physiology major who has lived in the Portland area since she was four years old. “It’s sunny one second, then hailing, then sunny again, then snowing and raining all in the course of one day.”
Shultz said she likes the crazy Oregon weather and wouldn’t trade Oregon’s fall season for anything.
But for some out-of-state students, the rain comes as a shock.
When sophomores Sara Marcotte-Levy and Dana
Yurman first toured campus, the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny, just like their hometown in San Diego, Calif. But their view of campus changed when the temperature in Oregon dropped and the weather became “chilly, wet and dark,” Marcotte-Levy said.
“I remember experiencing my first winter in Oregon,” Marcotte-Levy said. “I was walking home from a date, and the weather was in the single digits. I hated it.”
She and Yurman, her roommate in the dorms, also recall their first experience with thunder and lightning.
“I was freaking out while all my Oregonian hallmates didn’t think the thunder was a big deal,” Yurman said.
Samantha Sotomura, a sophomore business major from Honolulu, Hawaii, said the Oregon weather made her appreciate her hometown.
“I did not expect Oregon weather to get so cold,” Sotomura said. “In Hawaii, the lowest temperature has been 58-59 degrees.”
“You never know what to expect when you look outside,” she said.” “The weather is two-faced; you see one thing and get another result.”
The Farmers’ Almanac predicted this winter will be harsher and colder than last year.
Shultz advises new University students to have a pair of rain boots and carry an umbrella, but sophomore Emily King, a business major, said true Oregonians don’t act like they are going to melt when a little rain hits them.
“If you are a true Oregonian, you’ve learned to walk in the rain without an umbrella,” King said.
Marcotte-Levy said students shouldn’t be embarrassed to use an umbrella. She added that a great way to cope with the weather is to become involved with various clubs or activities on campus. Sotomura suggested having an umbrella, investing in a North Face jacket and layering your clothing in case the sun comes out after all.
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