As a collage students, you are tasked with engaging and expanding your thinking skills. One of the most important of these skills is critical thinking because it relates to nearly all tasks, situations, topic, careers, environment, challenges, and opportunities. It is a "domain- general" thinking skills, not one that is specific to a particular subject area.
The best way to punctuate the sentence is: "We enjoyed perfect skiing weather," my friends told me. "The sun came out and the wind died down completely."