Last Saturday, life reminded me that there’s always something new to experience. I’ve already seen snow and I have played in it, so I thought that I’ve done everything I could while being on campus.

I was in my hall when one of my residents asked me to go sledding with her and some other friends. I knew exactly what she meant, but I wasn’t sure if I could do it.

Probably it was just because I wanted to prove to these girls that I wasn’t afraid of challenges, but I decided to go. When we got there, I started to doubt. Tearing a muscle and twisting my ankle were the only things that were in my mind. I’ve always wanted to do risky activities such as sky diving, but going downhill in a saucer didn’t sound appealing at that moment.

I asked them to take a picture of me while going downhill to “remember the first one.” But the truth is that I wanted a picture so the next time someone would ask me to do something like that I could always see my scared face and find a way out of it.

How wrong I was. Once I was down with a lot of snow in my face I started to laugh. Sledding was so much fun and the hill wasn’t tall enough to be afraid of. I had to do it again. As my fear was gone, I went downhill so many times and even used a plastic bag as a sled.

Later on, more people showed up. Some were using oil trays and others had a snow inner tube. We all shared our devices. I tried to go backwards three times, but the three times I went downhill on my back, not on the saucer. No wonder my back is sore and covered with very small bruises.

My hands had started to numb when we decided to come back to our rooms. I walked in the halls before changing my clothes, and I found some girls who had been on their couches almost all day. They couldn’t understand how I had dared to go sledding. “That’s for children,” said one of them.

I replied that it seemed to me as a fun activity to do outside in the snow. “Or what, are you going to stay inside without enjoying the pleasures of the snow?” I asked.

“You’re not from Iowa, you’re not used to this. It’s just snow,” one of them replied. I left because I was waiting for a call, but I kept thinking about it.

It could be that as I’m not from here, I get excited for many things you take for granted. But you know what? I prefer being an out-of-towner so I can delight myself discovering new things in the usual things for you.

I’d rather have a sore back from sledding than from sitting all day on a couch.