Frosted Ear

Growing up near the tropics, I didn’t have a chance of having any snow day off school. I had always wanted to experience a winter with snow covered streets where I could leave my footprints.

Fast forward to college years. I was in Madison, Wisconsin. My routine was walking from my apartment to my classes on campus, about 15-18 minutes each way. It was a beautiful campus, surrounding 2 lakes, Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. I would turn on the TV and check the temperature quickly in the morning. I had a jacket for the 40s, another jacket for the 30s, a couple for the 20s and under.

One particular chilly morning, I was getting ready to walk to my chemistry class. Twenty-two degrees Fahrenheit. I should be ok with this white puffy jacket, I thought. I then put my backpack on, and set off to class. It was windy. Almost gusty. There was a constant blast of freezing air striking against my right ear. It was getting cold. My jacket didn’t have a hood, and I wasn’t wearing a scarf. Alright, almost there (to the heated classroom). I walked faster than usual, making big strides to cover more ground. Good thing the ground was dry. As I was getting closer to my classroom, I started to feel this rhythmic thump in the back of my head.

Arrived at my destination. Before I could sit down, there was an overwhelming pressure in my head, by my right ear. It was as if my right ear was going to explode. I thought I was going to die. Literally. I had to rest my head against the table, cushioned by my forearms. A classmate pointed out that my right ear was bright red. I used my right fingers to gently touch it – it was colder than ice, and was giving out a burning pain that I had never experienced before.

My ear was going to fall off. The thought of going to the emergency department crossed my mind, but I felt too sick to move. Another classmate handed me a pair of earmuffs. I quickly placed them on my ears. After a few minutes of what felt to be an eternity, the pounding in the back of my head started to subside. My right ear was still ice cold, but I was able to sit upright.

So that was what a frost bite felt like. My right ear did not fall off after all. There was an intense and constant pain on my outer ear, which eventually subsided after one week. From that point on, I always made sure to wear a hooded jacket, or at least wear a scarf. I learned that if I kept my ear frozen longer, I could have indeed lost it forever. Gaining wisdom from my experience. After all, we are all shaped by our experiences and what we do about them. I have never had a frost bite again.