OK, Guilford College, you win. I was going to write a scathing editorial about how you should have closed school on Monday, Feb. 1, because of the winter weather, but then you went and redeemed yourself by cancelling school on Friday, Feb. 5. I still have beef, though.

I understand that in order for Guilford to shut down, the weather conditions must be dangerous enough to prevent employees and students from making their way to the school and traversing the campus. Fair enough.

I don’t understand, however, how those conditions existed on Friday, but not on Monday. Several walkways around campus remained impassable on Monday due to the heavy snow and ice. Additionally, the roads which wind through campus remained icy and slick. On Friday, however, walkways and roads had been substantially cleared.

How did Monday’s conditions not constitute a safety hazard?

I almost fell down a number of times trying to make my way from class to class, and I noticed many of my peers slipping and sliding as well.

Perhaps the reason I felt that I was at risk lies in Guilford’s preparation and response to hazardous weather.

On the Friday before the storm, the only safety measure I saw was some salt rock scattered on the walkways. Not until several days later did heavier gravel cover the ground.

How is it that not all the walkways were plowed? I saw a bulldozer out on campus the Saturday after the storm, but not every walkway was bulldozed by Monday.

To make matters more interesting, every other major college or university in the area shut down that Monday. The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, North Carolina A&T, and Greensboro College all shut their doors due to the weather.

I realize that both UNCG and A&T have larger student bodies, and professors from more far-flung locations, but we have CCE students who commute from equally far-away distances too. Why should those schools close when we stay open? Shouldn’t we take some sort of cue from our peers?

All these facts aside, we did cancel school the following Friday after more snow; for this I am grateful.

The idea of canceling class and taking precious time away from already strained professors just because of a few inches of the white stuff may seem like a drag to those in charge. But we have to think about the safety of all students and professors.

I have tried to drive and walk on ice. It’s like trying to wrangle a hippo while wearing roller skates. It’s not going to happen. And so I thank you for cancelling school, and so do all the people with sore butts from Monday.