Mr. T, before you had introduced this whole assignment to us, I had got into a debate with my cousin. He said that summer was the best season while I said winter was the best season. We were talking about it for a solid 10 to 15 minutes while gambling money with our family for Lunar New Year’s. When you brought us into breakout rooms to talk about two things we loved, my immediate thoughts didn’t go toward the winter route and they still weren’t when Emily said that as one of the things. When you told us to create a slide presentation about the Best/Worst thing, I saw it as an advantage because the topic of winter was decently fresh in my mind. Now, winter is the best season because of the great weather, the holidays and breaks, and the activities that we couldn’t do before that we were now able to do.

The weather that comes with winter is a blessing. One of my favorite things that comes with the weather is the amount of times I drink hot chocolate. Hot chocolate isn’t something you drink on a hot summer day or when it’s a sunny 78 degrees outside with a little bit of clouds. Maybe if its raining really hard during the spring season, but I feel like the most ideal time to drink chocolate is during the winter season when it’s a chilly 58-65 degrees at night. As a hot drink, it really warms you up and almost gives you like a fuzzy feeling inside from how satisfactory it is.

It’s not just me who thinks hot chocolate is for winter either. If you look up “best hot chocolate recipes for …” and then each following season, you won’t find many results for fall, spring, or summer. However, a ton of recipes will show up when you search them up for winter. Also, with winter, the temperature drops quite a bit. In our city, it averages 89 degrees in September, 83 in October, and starts to drop around November and December to 69 degrees. That is a drop off of 20 degrees from September to December and it is quite a large amount. With this drop off in temperature, it allows us to layer more clothes and wear baggy clothing and be comfortable at home. Also, during winter, snow falls in the mountain and those who have never seen snow before can go and experience it.

During winter, we get a sufficient amount of breaks that helps us relax and it also allows us to spend more time with friends and family. The holidays that come with winter are mainly Christmas and New Years. Christmas is, of course, the best holiday of the year and I don’t believe it is close at all. During Christmas, we get presents, can drink beverages like hot chocolate, the classic Christmas movies are on TV, feast on delicious food, and get to experience all of that with our family. There aren’t any other holidays that give equal to or more than what Christmas offers.

The only one I can think of that comes a little close is Thanksgiving. Many other people think the same as well. According to a Harris Poll that was conducted, 46% of the polls taken voted for Christmas as the best holiday with Thanksgiving coming in second at only at 19%. Also, the amount of breaks that students get during winter is so much more than all of the other seasons, besides from summer of course. There is obviously the 2 week break for Christmas and New Year, January offers two breaks, but in February, we get 3 straight 3 day weekends and I love that. Especially because after the last 3 day weekend, we don’t have any other breaks for two months before spring break.

With the weather that comes with winter, you also get an addition of extremely fun activities. Some examples are snowboarding, skiing, and sledding. My personal favorite is snowboarding. However, fun for one person might be different for another person so is snowboarding and skiing really that fun?

Well in the picture is a line of snowboarders and skiers that stretches so far it disappears into the trees. The line is still in place even behind the person with the bright orange jacket. I don’t believe many people would be willing to wait in a line this long to do something that isn’t fun, so obviously snowboarding and skiing has to be fun right. Well, why are snowboarding and skiing so fun in the first place? I personally snowboard and think it is fun for a couple different reasons. Primarily, it gives you a different aspect of how to have fun. Normally, I’d play sports, video games, or hang out with friends. Snowboarding is different for me because it puts me in an uncomfortable position where both of my feet have to be strapped into the board when I ride. It provided a challenge to me when I first started and I welcomed it and enjoyed it. It also gave me a huge adrenaline rush and had my heart pounding when I got to the bottom of the mountain. Adrenaline is a common theme when you’re snowboarding at a high speed passing other people left and right. You can get adrenaline while snowboarding from many ways. If you’re doing a big air trick, there is no guarantee that you’re going to land your flip and so mid air, your heart is racing and if you land it, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. The biggest thing that gives me an adrenaline rush is when I’m turning either side on my board and I hit a small rock that launches me into the air.

My stomach drops, I hold my breath, and start to tense my muscles hoping I don’t fall on my face. Although, I was probably launched 6 inches off of the ground, it feels like I’m so much higher especially because I tend to go extremely fast. It is actually extremely terrifying. Well, why is snowboarding so daunting at face value. For beginners, snowboarding can be extremely scary. While riding a snowboard, there are two edges called the toe edge and heel edge that just refer to each side of the board. A heel edge is the side of the snowboard that hits your heel. When you use the heel edge to turn, you turn opposite of the way that your body is facing, regardless of which foot you place first. One thing that scares many snowboarders is what’s called catching your heel edge. What that means is using your heel edge to turn or stop, but then the board completely stops when you don’t expect it to and the momentum carries your body forward. This causes snowboarders to basically face plant and, as of right now, is my biggest fear while riding.

The video above shows that and how terrifying it is.  Another thing that might scare some people is going way too fast and not knowing how to stop or control their speed. Also, when people try to do tricks for the first time, it can be pretty scary because you’re attempting something new and the percent that you fall is increased tenfold.

Now, there are many counterclaims out there such as, winter is not perfect everywhere or summer is the best season. For example, there has been power outages and families struggling as a result of the snowstorm that happened recently in Texas. However, those parts of Texas don’t see much snow ever and so when the snowstorm happened, they were unprepared and didn’t know what to do. According to “Current Results” article on average annual snowfall totals in Texas, most areas of Texas get little to no snow except for west Texas where the highest amount is a total of 17.2 inches of snow on average per year. Most other areas have between 0-1 inches of snow annually on average. Then, there are people who say summer is the best season. No school for a couple months, can hangout with your friends, perfect time for the beach or pool, vacations, etc. However, when it’s 100 degrees outside, you’re wearing a t-shirt and shorts, and still can’t stand the heat, there is nothing much more you can do. In winter, you can add on as many layers as you want until you decide it is sufficient enough to keep you warm. In summer many people use that time to hang out with their friends often. Although, some people have strict parents and they aren’t allowed to go out to be with their friends often. Winter break is perfect for that because you can hang out with your friend once or twice, but when school starts again you’re still going to see them every day unless they’re absent or they move away. The weather, the holidays and breaks, and the activities made possible, all pushed me into deciding that winter was the best season.