< ResLife Homepage | Archives >

"Spring Fever"

Well, it’s soon to be that time of year again. Pretty soon flowers will start blooming and trees will start turning green. It’s a beautiful time of year. It is so hard to believe that something so beautiful could wreak havoc, isn’t it. At this point you are probably wondering where I am going with this, well I will tell you: Spring time in the life of a college student can be a real challenge.

To me as a college student this is the time of the year that is most difficult. I despise cold weather and always look forward to those humid Tennessee afternoons with ninety degree temperatures and one hundred percent humidity. Since it will soon start getting warmer again, as is the case every year, most college students (and grown-ups too!) get a case of spring fever. This is worse for seniors such as myself who also have that dreadful senioritis. It is so hard to go to class, go to work and study during the spring. I always sit and think about how much I would rather be fishing or swimming instead of sitting cooped up in my room studying or going to work.

Spring fever hits during our spring break in March. It isn’t exactly warm enough outside to do anything fun, but that nice week long hiatus suggests that spring is here. As we get back the temperatures start rising and patience with school and work begins to wane. It is so hard to convince yourself to go to class when you are thinking about how much fun it would be to be out in the sunshine for a little while and to start enjoying the front end of the approaching summer. The battle is evident as you begin to look around at the number of people in attendance in class towards the first and middle of April. It is also present when you get into club meetings and everyone is ready to hurry up so they can go do something fun outside.

What I think is more difficult about this time of year than the portion of the semester that starts in August, is that in August, school is just starting back and in April, we have been in school for several months and everyone is burnt out. I know as it approaches the end of the spring semester I always start thinking about just finding a job and not coming back to school, but finally in August, I am ready to go back again.

So what are some things that you can do as parents to help with spring fever and burn-out? Convince your child to get out and do something off campus! A change of scenery can go a long way in the name of fighting spring fever. If you and your son or daughter are close, choose a weekend or two during the spring time to do something fun together. My family farms for a living, so I like to work on projects on our farm during the spring. If you enjoy fishing, go on a weekend fishing trip. Everyone has something different that they like to do together, so find that something and enjoy your time together.