Hannah Wilmes immediately grabbed her camera when she saw the snow.
The sophomore business major, a Missouri native, is no stranger to snowfall. However, many of her friends had never seen snow before the 2021 Texas blizzard. Classes were cancelled for the entire week of Feb. 15-19 and many University of Dallas students spent their time enjoying the rare weather.
“People were sledding on frisbees, plastic tub tops, cardboard, table tops and broken pieces of plastic. Anything they could get their hands on!” said Wilmes.
Wilmes has been a photographer for several years. It was only a hobby, until recently.
“I started taking photography seriously my senior year of high school,” she said. “I started taking senior and family portraits that year, and my support back home has only grown.”
Many of Wilmes’ friends are grateful for her abilities. Charlotte Lannon, a sophomore economics and philosophy major, was featured in many of Wilmes’ snow day photos.
“Hannah always finds a way to capture the moment perfectly. She’s so talented and her pictures always remind me of wonderful memories!” Lannon said.
Many students had either never seen snow before, or had never seen snow in Texas. This makes sense, seeing as Texas had snow in all 254 counties for the first time in a generation.
“It was not my first time seeing snow,” said sophomore business major Lilliana Bitter, “but it was my first time seeing snow in Texas!”
Bitter, who hails from San Antonio, spent the week enjoying the snow with her friends.
“It was so cool to wake up to snow falling in my home state. It just kept falling and I was in awe that it was indeed snowing. Not simply sleeting or hailing like it usually does.”
Lannon also made sure to get outside and enjoy the weather.
“It was so fun playing in the snow that I forgot about the cold and [my] classes!” said Lannon.
