Students build snowmen for extra credit

Though most students lost class time due to snow days last week, some were able to put their adventures in the snow to good use.

Missy Fraser, a third-year Ph.D. student in the Human Movement Science program, sent out an email encouraging students in her human anatomy class to get out and play in the snow.

She proposed a contest where students could submit pictures of their handmade snow sculptures. These pictures will be voted on by the class, and the winner will receive five extra credit points added on to their overall grade.

“Going out and doing that kind of stuff gets you outside breathing good air, doing something physical that you don’t get the opportunity to do very regularly,” Fraser said.

She said her students had just taken an exam on Monday.

“I just posted the grades yesterday,” Fraser said on Thursday. “I’ve gotten some emails from some of the kids, so I was like, ‘You know, I’ll give them a chance for some extra credit.’”

And 20 of her students took Fraser up on her offer.

Fraser said she thought of the idea because she had to go to a friend’s house when her power was out.

“She lives at a big apartment complex, and it had a humongous yard with perfect white snow,” Fraser said. “We went outside and made a probably seven-foot snowman.”

Maria-Adriana Rojas, a student in Fraser’s class, posted a picture of the email on the Overheard at UNC Facebook group. She said she loved the idea of the contest.

“I actually wasn’t expecting it,” Rojas said. “It made me see a different side of her.”

Rojas said she started a snowman but wasn’t able to finish it for the contest, though she’s seen a lot of interesting snow structures around campus, including a snow Buddha and snow alligators.

“I’ve seen a lot of enormous igloos, which is kind of a marvel of engineering,” she said.

Molly Stein, a junior exercise and sport science major who works on research with Fraser, said she loved the idea.

“It’s a way for people to get out and actually enjoy the snow day,” Stein said.

Stein said she took Fraser’s class last semester.

“She’s really cool and is able to relate to students,” Stein said.

Fraser said she loves the opportunity to have fun in the snow. As a Ph.D. student in the Human Movement Science program, she also said it’s important to find fun ways to exercise.

“I want kids to have fun doing it. If you’re going to be working out, you should be having fun, right?”

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