Spare gloves, anyone? Sophomores Erin Balint, Lisa Smicklo and Danielle Picinich frolic in the Student Center quad winter wonderland. The three Blanton Hall residents spent the storm watching videos and eating popcorn.

Montclair State students took advantage of two days of canceled classes to catch up on their studies. Not buying it, huh? OK, odds are most students may not have had their heads buried in their textbooks during the entire blizzard. And who can blame them? It just takes those two familiar words -- Snow Day -- to blast even the most academic-minded student back to elementary school, when hearing your school on the "closed" list meant a free ticket to a day of lounging in pajamas, building snowmen and endless hot chocolate.

So what did some students stranded on campus do for entertainment? More than 100 students attended a "Snowed In Jump Off" party in the Bohn Hall lounge organized by Resident Director Andrew Voshell. Bohn residents Jason Fischer and Tremayne Reid were D.J.s for the impromptu get-together. "People were dancing and mingling," said freshman Jailynn Johnson. "It was a good time."

Junior James Cruz of Roselle gets in some snowboard action in front of the Student Center.

"People were happy to have something to do," Voshell said, adding that snow covering the satellite on the roof of Bohn caused a cable outage from about 4 p.m. Monday until noon Tuesday. "It was a nice party."

Blanton Hall residents Danielle Picinich, Erin Balint and Lisa Smicklo hung out with friends, watched videos, and ate popcorn and whatever other munchies they could find in their rooms. Freeman Hall was the only dining facility open on Monday, and the trek across campus was enough to work up anyone's appetite. "Most of the students truly understood the state the campus was in," said Regina Sargent, director of Residence Life. "We managed the best we could." Food was available in Blanton Hall by 7 a.m. Tuesday.

And it seems that students went the extra mile for more than just food. "Students really helped each other," Sargent said. "And they also were having fun in the snow."

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