True Life: It’s Spring at the College

I just spent roughly 20 minutes on Google searching ‘men’s colored chino shorts,’ instead of studying for my seminar midterm that starts in less than an hour. But that’s okay because I deserve this repose.  Why? Because I have been struggling with Spring Fever for a while now.  It hit me during the latter part of last week when I left Washington after my 11am Macroeconomics class, and I saw the Sunken Garden sprinkled with people.  Whether they were playing Frisbee, talking with friends, sleeping, tanning, or just running around barefoot, I was jealous that I could not have fun in the sun too.  Didn’t these people have homework? Didn’t these people have exams to study for?  Are they implicitly mocking me?

Let me give you the rundown of the past five days, the past five days when I could not spend time enjoying the weather.  Friday I attended the William and Mary Dance Marathon, which was pretty fun (Bhangra made an appearance and showed us some of their intense Indian moves-the ‘baby clap’ anyone?), but I had to leave around midnight because I needed sleep for Saturday, which consisted of an Accounting review session from 10am to noon, a sit-down with a close friend to discuss our rooming situation for next year, and finally a celebratory birthday dinner with another friend.  Sunday might have seemed like the good ole’ day of rest, but I had an Accounting practice exam to complete before the exam on Tuesday, the Aeneid to finish by Tuesday, as well as read Euripides’ tragic Trojan Women for my freshmen seminar, and its exam on Wednesday.  And, to top it all off, I had to study for a French exam on Monday.  So in summarization, I had a packed weekend and three exams this week.

I did, however, have a taste of the glorious outdoors when I read for my seminar.  I decided to read at Miller Hall’s patio, which was great; I was alone and completely isolated from any distractions (in my case, people watching).  Though I finished the play, I was vexed that I still had work to do.  It was cumbersome that others could enjoy smacking volleyball back and forth when I had to stay focused on academia.  I started dozing off on the patio, but then it started to get cloudy and bit chilly, so after grabbing a Greek yogurt cup from the Grind, I retreated to the ISC with a few friends from Yates.

Monday it was rainy.  And Tuesday it was rainy.   Now, I’m not sure whom to exactly blame for the meteorological miscommunication, but I had no idea that it was not going to be sunny.  The plans I made to spend some serious leisure time in the sun after my French exam were now terminated.  Therefore, when I woke up today, I had to know what the weather was like because after my freshmen seminar exam I swore I would enjoy the weather.  Alas, 13 News’ weathermen reported it would be in the mid-40s today.  In an attempt to support his prophecy, I even conducted my “place my hand on the window and guesstimate the forecast” method.  The glass was cold.  Sad face. But when I left Washington at noon, I remembered how weather prophecies, and my own methods of weather divination, are truly unreliable; it was in the mid-70s.  Irritated face.

After switching into shorts and flippy floppies I finally enjoyed some relaxation time at the Grind, where I realized two things.  First, no matter how stressed I am about the amount of work I have while at the College, the load will sporadically lessen and I will get to enjoy peace.  There is no need to get bogged down by a tight schedule and a few exams-things will get better, and I’ll still be able to relax.

Second, I realized that colored shorts aren’t cheap.