Waking up at 6:30 a.m. was no problem for me at the start of my senior year, but now, it’s getting to me. Leaving the warmth of my bed to shower and face the cold outdoors is repulsive to me, and then I think about the icy roads I’m about to face, and the idea becomes even more unattractive than before.

During the spring, summer, and fall, it’s understandable why teachers crackdown consistently tardy students, but the wintertime is another story. Students who are not used to driving in the Montana weather may speed to school and hit an icy patch and spin out, and even students who have driven in the winter before may not take as much precaution driving because they are worried about being late to school.

The school board loves to preach that students can come to school at their own discretion during winter, but when students do come late, they get the stink eye from their teacher, or a talking-to after class. My parents always told me that it’s better to arrive alive and late, so I use that advice once the black ice starts appearing everywhere.

I’m not saying that schools should push back their starting times year round, just during the middle of winter. Living in Montana and never having a snow day, even when my driveway is snowed in and my car is stuck, I think it should at least be acceptable that students can arrive a little later during the winter.

Even though everyone is used to the snowy tundra that Montana becomes during the end months, that doesn’t mean we are all pro-drivers. Three years ago, a CMR student died on her way to school because of the road conditions and because she was trying to get to school on time. If peers and teachers were more relaxed on arriving late during December, Great Falls would have safer drivers on the road.