I was among the apparent multitudes of students who decided to wait until the very last minute to return to school.

My parents kept checking the weather reports and shouting up the stairs that there was going to be snow, freezing rain, that I had better get a move on or I would get stuck in it.

I paid no attention. I'm a pretty good driver, and my car has 4-wheel drive, so I assumed (incorrectly) that I would be fine.

The first hour or so went just fine. I was still in the range of Philadelphia radio stations, the roads were clear, and nothing was coming down yet.

I was singing along to the radio loudly, as I only do in the car, when I rounded a bend just outside of Harrisburg and saw it.

The snow had started.

Well, it had kind of started. I mean, there were flaky white things floating around, but not too much else. 'See, I knew it would be no big deal,' I thought to myself, and pressed on.It very quickly became a big deal.

The snow was heavy and wet, and accumulated quickly. For those of you not familiar with the path between Harrisburg and State College, it's all hills. I was fine on them, thanks to my aforementioned 4-wheel drive, but there didn't seem to be a single other driver on the road who was. We crawled up and down the hills as cars slid around and got stuck in ditches. Still, we were moving, however slowly.

I had just passed Lewistown when traffic stopped altogether. Surrounded by other drivers,

I was literally parked on Route 322, waiting for my turn to and make it over the hill.

After about an hour and a half of sitting, there was a glimmer of hope. I was able to inch my way past several now-abandoned cars, and suddenly I had my chance to make a stab at the mountain.Unfortunately, it wasn't going to be easy.

The road wasn't plowed yet, and there had been heavy accumulation, so we crawled up the mountain single file, counting on the vehicles in front of us to pave our way.

Regrettably, about every 100 yards or so, someone got stuck, and couldn't move at all, their tires spinning helplessly as they fought not to go over the edge.

And this is where the great part comes in. As far as 15 cars back, people parked, walked through the deep drifts, and helped total strangers.

They pushed with all their might to try to move steel up almost vertical slopes. And then they stood back a moment and waited until the cars got stuck again — and they were right there to help push again. When it became clear that some cars could go no further, people opened their doors to strangers, and took them safely back to school.

Most of us stuck on the mountain that night were students, and the entire thing was wonderful to see.

It may have taken me almost nine hours to make a three- hour trip, but I got a great view of the true sense of spirit at this university.

Great job, Penn State.