Wear long underwear; change your life. The most functional and life-changing clothing you can have in Fairbanks in the winter is a pair of long underwear. You think I exaggerate, but anyone who dreads going from house to car and from car to school, will find a new outlook on life in the winter if they would just dress warmly.

The first snow hit Fairbanks last week. It always surprises me. Every year I also stubbornly refuse to start dressing warm enough, believing that if I keep wearing light clothing, the summer will come back and I will do all those things that I regretfully did not get done when the weather was warm enough.

It won’t come back for another six months, so at last I must concede. I feel as if I must cross-dress for half the year. Goodbye pretty shoes and breezy dresses. Hello fleece pants and stocking caps. I see people who refuse to change their attire even in the coldest part of winter. They click-clack in heels on the frozen icy sidewalks in defiance of the climate. They rebel against the cold, pretending not to be freezing.

Though I must sacrifice my vanity for the sake of practicality, I truly appreciate the low maintenance look that typifies Fairbanks.

When the cold sets in, sometimes it takes awhile to adjust even with the proper warm clothing. There are a few spots on campus that are especially warm. I hesitate to publish them as heat seekers like myself may take them up. The top tier of the Wood Center where the center staircase leads is a warm refuge from the cold. Do your homework in laundry rooms to avoid freezing, or find a well-insulated room with a south-facing window during the heat of the day. The SRC is usually warm as well especially if you force yourself to run in circles while you’re there.

Dressing warmly is not only a way to be more physically comfortable on the outside; I think it helps battle the mentality that winter is a depressing time of year. When you are warm, you feel comfortable outside and more likely to absorb some of the sunlight even if there is not much of it.

Another effect of low temperatures is a higher metabolism. You feel more inclined to eat, but beware! Overeating is also a side affect of seasonal affective disorder or SAD. It is also a reason that people tend to gain weight over the winter.

In about a month, people will start pairing up, because it is getting too cold to weather the winter alone. Pop culture may not embrace softer, cozier looking lovers, but they become more popular when people seek warmth.

Don’t let this winter get you down. As temperatures drop, layer your clothes, find a warm refuge and feel free to use cold induced lethargy as an excuse for laziness.