As arctic air blasted central Florida last week, students on the University of South Florida Polytechnic/Polk Community College campus took a break from classes to toss snowballs and go sledding.

On January 21 the two schools hosted Winter Wonderland, featuring man-made snow and a snow-covered slide. Free pizza and snow cones were served, and students received free snow globes.

"Winter Wonderland was timed perfectly with Florida's winter weather," says student Melissa Cobb. "It was an exciting event and it was chilly enough outside to really feel like we were in the snow.

"I think that students are finally feeling a student life presence on campus. It's exciting to see people around that you typically would miss because you don't have classes with them."

According to student April Reyna, Winter Wonderland came at the right time. "It unexpectedly brought fun and laughter at a kind of gloomy time. The snow was almost like real snow and made perfect snowballs. Who would have thought we'd have snow in Florida? The thrill of the snow slide brought back childhood memories of inner-tubing down what we used to call ‘murder hill' in Germany during winter. Events like this break the monotony of everyday life. I can only hope for more."

Student Natalie Lahr says, "Being a former Yankee, I found it refreshing to finally have some snow for winter instead of just the cold weather!"

Dr. Jan Lloyd, USFP's dean of students, says the Student Government Association and Student Life always try to plan different activities to offer variety for students. According to Lloyd, students at both USF Poly and PCC benefit from collaborative student life events.

"For Winter Wonderland we made sure to include our students with families so they could bring their children and spouses to the event for something a little different. You don't get snow in Florida, so it was nice to see the young children getting excited about something they haven't seen before."

Lloyd believes activities like Winter Wonderland greatly enrich student life.

"We intend to build campus events for all students, including our nontraditional students with families, so they feel a central part of our campus community. USF Poly is not just about taking classes but about building relationships with peers and faculty because this contributes to students becoming more engaged in their learning and academic experience."

Lloyd welcomes input from all students on ideas or suggestions for future events and suggests they contact her at jlloyd@poly.usf.edu to share their ideas.

Photos from this event