It's springtime in Chapel Hill and students are finally getting a well-deserved break from the recent bitter, cold winter. For some, that even means giving up on the days of rolling over in bed and hitting the snooze button on the alarm clock too many times in avoidance of the dreaded ECON 101. The sun is shining, might as well go out and relax in it!
The minute the warm weather hit, the Pit was buzzing with student groups, campus awareness advertisements, pit preachers and even the occasional violinist.
But, judging by the large masses of UNC students walking around, lounging in the Pit and enjoying a bite to eat, one can’t help but wonder if there are any students perhaps enjoying the weather a little too much.
So what exactly does springtime mean to UNC? Here’s what the students had to say:
“No one really wants to stay in their room when it isn’t cold and rainy. The weather is encouraging.” – Kevin Ji
“I haven’t noticed a drop in class size but I also haven’t wanted to go to class either.” – Claire Archer
“Luckily for me, a student in two of my classes suggested we go outside so we still get a chance to enjoy the weather.” –Monal Patel
“I definitely don’t mind walking to class anymore but once I get there it’s hard to focus. All I think about is what I will do when class is over.”- Radhika Kshatriya
A general consensus of the student body shows that the weather is enough to get the students out of bed, but as the temperature rises it can become too tempting for some students not to attend class.
Activities like tanning on the quad, taking a day trip to the beach or picking up some delicious ice cream from one of the many shops on Franklin Street seemed much more appealing at this time of the year.
Lifetime fitness instructor Jaime Pearson only has positive comments about the recent change in weather.
“When it's nice outside, the energy levels are way up. Attitudes are improved and people want to be outside.”
“The campus is more lively. It feels like the beginning of the first semester when people were happy to be starting school again,” freshman Rayna Singh said.
So how do the instructors feel about this change?
Some, like professor Laurie Langbauer in the English department haven’t even noticed a decline in attendance.
“In this weather, I find myself wanting to just run away from class like the students. I guess we’re all just self-sacrificing in the end though.”
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