Spring to many students is a reward for the long and cold winters we face here at Colgate University. The smallest bloom of a flower, a bird chirping or the weather simply rising above freezing admittedly does guarantee a slight shift in the intense seasonal depression of winter. Spring promises a mental health boost, warmer weather and longer days. Yes, I get it. However, the constant rhetoric concerning the remarkable season of spring gets tiring. What’s not to love about spring? Well, in my opinion, a lot.
For starters, the unpredictable weather has always bothered me. Everyone claims that the advent of spring brings about sunnier days. Yet, here at Colgate and anywhere cold for that matter, spring promises three, maybe four sunny days before the school year ends. If we’re lucky, average April temperatures range in the 50s. So, the weather isn’t even nice; on the contrary, it’s actually the opposite. Spring is basically winter with a couple of nice days where you don’t need to pull out the jacket and sweatshirt combo to class. If anything, the weather being warm for a couple of days gives me a false sense of hope that the weather is improving. The weather gets warm for a week, everyone gets excited, puffers get stuffed in the back of closets and then the next thing you know it’s below freezing yet again. In my opinion, the promise of nicer weather during spring is a lie. To me, spring feels like a filler season with no real sense of purpose, because when the weather does heat up, it’s essentially summer, so spring has already passed.
Something else that bothers me heavily about spring is the allergies, specifically pollen. This infuriating aspect of spring is not discussed almost ever, in my opinion, and I’m sick of it. Spring is notorious for causing allergies, but somehow people believe the promise of warmer weather and nature in bloom outweighs the sneezing, itchy eyes and congestion that unfolds with the arrival of spring. People ignore that spring has the highest pollen counts, and I think it’s time we acknowledge this exasperating aspect of many people’s favorite season. Sitting in class with my nose running, head pounding and eyes itching is not worth the few beautiful days.
And now we arrive at the worst part of spring: the end-of year-school blues. As spring materializes, the lure of summer — the beach, tanning, surfing — draws closer. So much so, that I genuinely believe my grades and work ethic begin to slowly dip as the season continues.. Ultimately, the further we get into spring, the harder I find it to focus on my classes and studying, and I don’t think I’m alone in this. In the fall, when the school year begins, students seem to possess motivation to participate in their classes while staying actively engaged in the material. Compared to spring when students are tired and burnt out. Speaking for myself, all that the end of the school year brings is finals and more work, so how do you look forward to a season that encompasses this? All in all, the spring motivation slump is a large part of why I believe spring is overrated, because the toils that arise with the intense workload leading up to the end of the year ruin any good aspects of spring.
Ultimately, I am aware that spring does contain some positives. Speaking on the downsides of spring doesn’t mean I am not aware of the fact that spring in itself is better than winter in almost every facet. I can concede that there is nothing better than waking up to a beautiful spring day, even if they are far and few in between. Nonetheless, I believe the pomposity and boasting of the arrival of spring is not what it should be. Spring has its perks for sure, but a couple of days with nicer weather or the promise of summer approaching doesn’t discredit the negative aspects of the season. To me, the unpredictability of the weather, allergies and the decline in motivation are what make spring highly overrated. Spring is not our saving grace, and I think it’s time to acknowledge that.
