As soon as wildlife & fisheries sciences senior Caleb Williamson saw snow in Bryan-College Station’s forecast, he hatched a once-in-a-lifetime plan: a marriage proposal under the snow-covered Century Tree.
“I had to go to five or six different FedExes to make sure the ring got here in time,” Williamson said. “And then I surprised her just in time with the snow … It turned out so beautiful.”
Williamson’s fiancee, psychology senior Kensleigh Wehunt, knew he had something in the works. But she wasn’t expecting to get engaged during a snowfall.
“I kind of knew it was coming maybe [Tuesday] because I said, ‘The snow would be so awesome and unique, especially here because it doesn’t snow,’” Wehunt said. “And then we started walking over here, and I was like ‘Oh, people put lights in the Century Tree. I wonder what people are doing?’ And he started to walk that way. I was like ‘Oh, this is for us.’ … I couldn’t imagine anything better.”
While Aggieland experienced just an inch of snow, the impact was enough to cancel classes Tuesday and allow students to engage in a number of activities and shenanigans late Monday night and early into the morning.
The amount of snow on the ground didn’t matter to Aggies like general engineering freshmen Avery Vasquez and Bernadette Chua. Vasquez hails from Laredo, while Chua grew up in the Philippines, meaning both were overjoyed at a rare chance to experience any amount of snow.
“I was just shocked, to be honest,” Vasquez said. “ … It’s definitely beautiful to see, and even better that it’s here in College Station.”
The duo took part in one of multiple impromptu snowball fights that broke out across campus, a battle in the shadow of Kyle Field that involved a cup, tupperware and signage in attempts to gather enough ice to gain the upper hand.
“The best part of the snowball fight was definitely not getting hit in the stomach,” Vasquez said. “But definitely hitting someone in the stomach.”
The rare snowfall provided opportunities for more than just adrenaline-fooled tomfoolery, like the polar plunges into Aggie Park’s pond a few brave souls dared to take.
The park was one of the most popular spots to enjoy the winter weather. General engineering freshman Travis Reed was one of many students who rushed to the park when the snow started falling. Like plenty of other Aggies, Reed grew up near Houston — so any amount of snow is a special occasion.
“This is like the second-most snow I’ve seen in my life,” Reed said. “So I think that other people have seen snow a lot, but it’s not very common. So we’re all really excited to go play around in it.”
But neuroscience freshman Ella Schmidt, Reed’s friend and a Virginia native, grew up in a community a bit more familiar with the winter storm Bryan-College Station has endured the past week.
“It’s been so much fun hearing people talk about class is canceled because of the snow because I mean, it’s barely getting below freezing,” Schmidt said. “ … I’ve just had a lot of fun listening to everybody talk about how scary the roads will be, just because in Virginia, our infrastructure can handle the roads being a little slushy.”
Friendly rivalry aside, Schmidt was excited to see the wonder on all of her friends’ faces.
“Getting to see all these different groups of people coming together, throwing snowballs at each other, hugging and rubbing snow in people’s heads, I think it’s just really fun to see people really experience that joy that I’ve known my whole life,” Schmidt said.
For everyone on campus — be it a story of getting pelted with a snowball in the solar plexus they’ll joke about years from now or a magical, winter wonderland proposal they might tell their grandchildren about someday — it was a night Aggies won’t forget.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” Williamson said. “There’s nothing like seeing Texas A&M in the snow. Especially being with your fiancee. There’s nothing like it.”
