In the wise words of Mugatu, Lawrence is so hot right now. Following typical Midwestern fashion, the season of summer has assaulted us with a distinct lack of middle ground when it comes to temperature. We went from chilling winds to steamy summer heat in a few days. I hope it has come to stay this time but one can never be too sure. It still is amazing to think that it was below freezing just a few weeks ago and I have lived in the Midwest for a lot of my life. You would think I would be used to it by now. With the weather changing, so is the attitude on campus.
In the past week, I’ve seen more people than I did all of winter term. Everyone is walking around enjoying the beauty that is Lawrence in the summer. The bright colors from the trees and flowers paired with the blue sky and green grass is pretty hard to beat when the Fox River is flowing right next to it all. The lawn is covered in students doing anything and everything: relaxing, doing homework outside, play Frisbee, what have you. It feels like a proper balance of relaxation and work has been achieved.
Additionally, campus has really sprung into life. Despite the numerous festivals and events that persist throughout the winter, now is the time where everything starts happening. Ormsby had a festival. There was Greek Week. Everyone is moving their events outside. People who I never saw throughout all of winter are out and about loving the weather.
Despite the pressures of classes coming up on the end of term, everything is a lot easier. It just seems more relaxing with the beautiful weather. It makes me excited for the adventures that I will have over the summer and I get to see my friends at Lawrence all the more often. Everyone just seems so much happier.
When things are this beautiful, I feel that it is worth the cold and bleak midwinter. As I said before, I grew up with that kind of winter all my life, so it isn’t too bad. I feel like I forgot what the summer looks like, and now that I’ve seen it, it is hard to imagine the landscape with snow and ice.