Classes for next year, internships, jobs, workload, finals, papers, lingering tests, drama at home, drama in the dorm, drama with a relationship, lack of sleep, lack of motivation, should I go out tonight or write that paper, in need of a good homemade meal, indecisive with what to do with the next hour let alone the rest of my life.
College students have a lot going on, and seeing students lying out on the Quad proves that spring is exactly what everyone needs right now.
When feeling overwhelmed, it is important to look around and see the blooming trees and smell the freshly cut grass. Sometimes after hours in the library the sleeping giant mountain startles me. Here I was sitting cooped up with my work and forgot about the beauty around me. That is not to say that studying is not important right now during crunch time, this is the hardest yet most important time to stay focused and finish strong. And that is what is so wonderful about spring; it is rejuvenation, a new beginning, a rebirth. We should all take a breath and think back on what we have survived this year. After being bundled up and snowed in, trudging through the rain and trying not to slip on the ice, we can finally see the sun. Sure the pollen may cause a stuffy nose and watery eyes, but the campus is beautiful and the air seems to buzz with an excitement that must have been weighed down by the freezing temperatures.
Take a minute today and look around at the people who seem to walk lighter, smile more, and maybe stop and talk with someone you know. It is a gift in itself to be able to walk to class with my head up, not looking at the river forming underneath my feet. While I remember lugging a huge backpack under a broken umbrella and cursing the students who go to school in Miami, now I am reminded why I picked a school with “seasons.” I will be twenty years old and it still never ceases to amaze me how everything comes back to life. No matter how horribly treacherous a winter we pull through, somehow even the littlest things like the flowers and the bees are still ready for another round. Spring gives me hope in what I am capable of. If a crocus bud can push itself through the frozen ground with just a little help from the sun, I can surely push myself through the rest of this semester, and anything I face in life. Now is the time to be happy, to do what is needed to be done while also doing what the heart wants to do.
Spring is a time to have fun, to feel like a kid running through a sprinkler barefoot. Now is the time to take action, to realize that better days lie within you, and that with fresh starts come infinite opportunities. So do what is good for you this spring and don’t let the stress of life fog you. Work hard because you deserve to do well, but also give yourself time to relax. Like the annoying little bird who chirps outside your window in the morning, wake up stoked about another spring day.
It is wonderful to know that there can always be a new beginning.
