May 19, 2023 | FEATURES | By Anya Jones
As you may have noticed, the weather outside has been a bit grim. As you also may have noticed, it’s Block 8, and it is not Colorado’s business to be overcast and sub-62 degrees at such a time. Block 8 is a time for Spikeball on Tava Quad, for swimsuit tops and Wilco, 5-7 inch inseam shorts, and flip flops for the bravest of us.
It is easy to deduce from the behavior of this campus that now is the time where most of us would appreciate if the sun came out and stayed out. So, you can imagine what an unpleasant surprise it was when everyone opened the weather app on Wednesday, May 10 and saw that the next week and a half were an unwanted mix of clouds, rain, and low (depending on who you ask) temperatures.
In addition to the general morale of this school being pro-sun at this time in the year, it also goes without saying we have had a difficult reckoning with mental health among the student body. In light of this, I asked around to see how the rain and clouds were affecting people.
I got an interesting mix of responses.
Some people who came to Colorado to escape their hometown gloom were frustrated and disappointed. Others expressed a tolerance and even invited the rain. One kid called it beautiful. Poetics aside, I was on a mission to prove the weather has maybe just a little bit to do with people’s moods. I asked the following open-ended questions: “What do you think of the weather?” and “How does it make youfeel?”
“Bad,” said Ian Kuver ’24. He, as I outlined above, was one of the people who came to Colorado for a marked change in weather patterns. For him, the rain was unwelcome. Jackson Kresse ’25 gave me two potent words in response: “Awful. Depressed.”
When I prompted him to elaborate, he just waved his hand in the direction of the window implying that that could speak for itself. It did. At this point the rain was sleeting down at a nearly horizontal angle because the wind was gusting so ferociously. (As someone that walked through these conditions, I can confirm that I was unable to make any forward progress for a few steps. It sucked.)
Despite my own agenda here, I would be remiss if I did not include the substantial number of responses I got in favor of the weather.
“I kind of like it,” said Sara Makulec ’25. She said this to me shyly, as if she knew it is an unpopular opinion to hold (it is). She was not the only person that seemed positive about the weather. Tesha Ferrell ’25 had a whole book of things to say about the rain and clouds. In summation, she said, “It gives me an excuse to slow down.”
I gave her that one; I am sure we can all agree to some extent with that statement. Others said they didn’t mind the weather. Some said it was nice to fall asleep to the sound of rain. I assume the person who was riding a bike next to me in the 50 mph wind who was physically turned 180 degrees by said wind would disagree with them.
Contrary to my expectations, there were mixed reviews on the weather. But there was a general sentiment of agreement that the string of sour days was not in the spirit of our final weeks of this academic year.
There was also a sense of dulled energy campus-wide – overcast skies and sweaters tend to have that effect on us. If you are asking yourself why your mood is less sparkly than whatever your normal may be, one thing you can check in with is the color of the sky. Obviously, I am not suggesting this is what is causing your respective mental health crises. I am, however, a firm believer in the power weather has on the mood, both of individuals and of the greater campus feel.
Some people just like to be contrarian, and you have to take what they say with a grain of salt. To close it all out I offer this: “I love it. F*ck all of you” said Drew Greeley ’24.