On Monday, April 8, there was an event on campus that probably had never happened before or at least anytime recently: a solar eclipse. I know that solar eclipses are a big deal and a really interesting and rare phenomenon, but I was not expecting to see such a crowd waiting on Stine Lake for the eclipse while walking back from one of my exams. It seemed like everyone was excited about it, and I heard people talking about it all week. There were hundreds of people outside chatting with friends and setting up picnic blankets, which was especially nice to see as campus was coming out of winter.
The Office of Student Activities and Greek Life (OSAGL) provided pairs of solar eclipse glasses so that the students had to opportunity to see the eclipse. This was turned into an entire event, complete with a sun-themed playlist, from “Total Eclipse of the Heart” to “Here Comes the Sun.” The eclipse itself was really interesting to see, and luckily the weather cleared enough to have a great view. In Gettysburg, we saw the eclipse with 92% totality, reaching its peak magnitude around 3:20 p.m.
It’s days like this that make me really happy to go to such a small school with a tight-knit community. Eclipse Day may have only lasted for a short time, but it brought us all together which was really special. Even though we may not have another Eclipse Day for a while, it was definitely fun while it lasted!
