On the morning of Nov. 9, the city of Omaha and all of its drivers, woke up to an unexpected snow that covered roads. For many students, it was their first time driving in this weather which caused an uneasy feeling about transportation to school.

“[Driving in the snow] was super scary,” junior Marissa Koch said. “Everyone was driving pretty slow, and I was scared because my car is really bad in the snow. I was trying to go up a hill and I was pressing on the gas but my car wasn’t moving. I was stuck on the hill and everyone had stopped behind me. I just kept pushing on the gas and I somehow made it up [the hill].”

First-time snow drivers weren’t the only ones affected by the snow. Marketing teacher Sarah Schau said that the snow caused many teachers to be late to school as well. 

“At 9:40 a.m. four out of eight of the teachers in my department were not [at school] yet,” Schau said. “There was really no way for the school to know if the city wasn’t going to ice or salt the roads.”

A common problem many student-drivers faced were faulty breaks, icy hills, lack of four wheel drive, and being late to homeroom.

“I was going down a hill, and I couldn’t stop [the car] because my brakes were not working,” sophomore Ashlynn Nieuwenhuis said. “I was on the phone with my mom the entire time and she gave me a trick: instead of holding the brakes [when driving on ice,] tap on them.”

Remember to always try to prepare for different weather conditions and drive safe during the upcoming icy season!