It’s almost time to hang up your big winter coats and trade them in for a light fleece jacket. The season of warmer weather, pastel colors, blossoming greenery and flowers, playoff basketball, and Easter egg hunts is finally upon us. The first day of Spring this year is today, March 20, which is also known as the Spring Equinox.
What exactly is the spring equinox?
The word equinox comes from Latin and means “equality of night and day.” It occurs at two specific moments in time when the sun is exactly above the equator. The spring equinox occurs around March 21 in the northern hemisphere. This is around the time when the sun moves north across the equator going south. The spring equinox signals that the northern hemisphere of the planet has slowly begun tilting more toward the sun, leading to longer days and more sunlight.
Spring at Williams Told From Williams Students Themselves
Daiana Takashima, a junior at Williams, immediately mentioned how nice it is to see everyone slowly emerge from hibernation. Whether they were living in the libraries or avoiding the frigid temperatures in their dorm rooms, everyone begins to come outside for fun games of spikeball and lunch with friends on the paresky steps once the weather becomes bearable! Takashima also discussed how beautiful the campus looks when everything starts blooming from the lime green colors on the trees to the pretty pastel colors from the flowers.
Allison Frison, a sophomore from Florida, absolutely lit up when I asked her about springtime at Williams. Frison also emphasized how the warmer weather really brings out such a happy and fun ambience to the campus.“I love how in the spring people will gather outside of Paresky during lunchtime and sit on the steps to eat. People play music and it’s just a really happy atmosphere,” Allison said with a smile.
Another sophomore, Anna Wise, told me how nice it is to finally be able to be outside and get some fresh air. “It is such a nice change of pace to be able to do homework out on the picnic tables with your friends and go for walks around campus. The campus becomes greener and you can literally feel the mood change with the warmer weather. Springtime at Williams is the best time of the year!”
The longer and warmer days definitely seem to bring out the best in students at Williams, and I absolutely cannot wait to get back to campus and experience this wonderful time with all of my friends in April!