The ISU campus was dead on the third day of dead week after Tuesday night’s snow storm shut down the university Wednesday.

While some students took the chance to cram in extra studying, others used Iowa State’s snow day to take a break.

At about 2 p.m., a group of approximately 20 students met outside Hoover Hall for a snowball fight, organized by mass texting.

“It started out just kind of like a middle school dance, everybody was kind of like ‘I don’t really know you guys, I feel bad pummeling you,’ but then it picked up,” said Jacob Karasch, junior in mechanical engineering.

Many students, equipped with lunch trays, used the day off to sled down the hill on the north side of the Knoll.

“I should be studying, but you’ve got to take advantage,” said Marisa Kail, senior in kinesiology and health.

Wednesday was Kail’s first time sledding on the Knoll and she said the day off was a good break from studying.

“My dead week was nonexistent, I’ve had presentations and I have two finals tomorrow,” Kail said. “I like it. I really enjoy this break and the reason to put off studying.”

On the other end of campus, students worked throughout the day to finish projects in the Design Building.

Bryan Mock, junior in architecture, said he was taking advantage of the day off to work on projects, but said he’d probably got less done because he was able to sleep in.

“I want to get out and enjoy the snow, but I don’t have time,” Mock said.

Despite the university closing most offices for the day, the printing lab in the design college remained open so students would be able to use a laser cutter for projects.

“Things need to be done and you can’t do it without the laser cutter,” said John Hayes, senior in architecture. “That’s really the only reason we’re open.”

Hayes said with design projects becoming more detailed, a laser cutter is needed. The printing lab is usually open 24 hours during finals and dead week because of increased business.

“During finals time, we have a big line and normally people stay and sleep out in the hallway throughout the night,” Hayes said.

Whether students used Wednesday as a break or a chance to catch up, it doesn’t change the fact that finals are less than a week away.

“It’s always nice to have a snow day, especially in college since you never get them, but it’s kind of like bad timing,” said Adam Lau, junior in aerospace engineering. “I’m supposed to have review sessions for finals today and now they can’t really make that up.”