Meera Jain

Clara Bélanger

@orangepeacock694747 · Jan 12, 2026 10:22 am

I survived a blizzard, then helped two strangers enter Quantico

This happened a few years back, but I still think about this often as both one of the coolest but potentially stupidest things I've ever done. There's a lot of backstory before we get to Quantico, but bear with me here.
At the time, I was a 20F preparing to drive back to college after winter break. I was about 30 minutes into my drive when it started snowing. I feel fairly comfortable driving in the snow, and I had a large vehicle, so I wasn't worried about getting stuck and kept driving. However, after a little while, it became clear these conditions were only getting worse, and traffic came to a stop. I ended up stuck on the highway for 8 hours, making incremental progress with zero visibility and insanely dangerous road conditions. I called my mom, and she told me to get off the highway as soon as possible. I know I probably should have done this sooner, but I was 20 and stubborn and thought I could make it back to college. I pulled off at the next exit, which I later learned was the last accessible exit, and driving past that would have meant spending the night in my car (which many people did during this particular blizzard).
Anyways, I made my way to the first hotel off the e