Spring Fever Hits Ramapo

By BRIANNA DUNN

Spring is finally in the air at Ramapo College, with students donning flip flops, shorts, and taking advantage of the near 80-degree weather by spending their day outside doing homework, relaxing on the quad, or heading down to the athletic fields.

On April 10, New Jersey experienced the highest temperatures of 2017, with temperatures already exceeding the expected high for the day at 78 degrees, just a few shy of the record high of 81 reached in 1991. This unexpected weather is almost 20 degrees higher than the average April high of 61 degrees. On April 11, the evening temperature will drop back down to a comfortable 54 degrees. During the day, a high of 82 degrees is predicted with a low of 56.

Students take to the courts on a hot spring day

The nice weather has students wanting to spend their time outside playing and having fun, making it harder to stay motivated.

“I’m definitely excited to wear shorts and other summer clothes. It has been way too cold out and I got sick of wearing the same stuff week in and week out, ” said Arielle Gordon, sophomore student. “I am probably gonna not want to do any homework at all today but hopefully I can manage.”

Students and staff at Ramapo are thrilled with the warmer weather after waiting out a long winter for the first real signs of Spring.

“I felt like I was going to die in the winter, it is not for me. It had me depressed,” said Janine, a junior transfer student who did not use her last name. “”I rather be outside, I feel like inside is like jail.”

Janine is not the only one happy to be outdoors, with professors even holding class outside near the arch instead of in a classroom.

“I’m really happy that it’s finally nice out,” said Kathryn, an environmental science major who did not use her last name. “All of my classes are outside.”

The staff is as excited about the fresh air and warm breeze as the students.

“It is amazing, it’s really nice. I was just noticing the twinkling on the water and how sun reflects. I was excited to eat outside of the office,” said Peter Shalit, who leads weekly meditations in the Krame Center. “I think like most things there’s pros and cons so because of the nice weather less people came to meditation. But it’s really great to get people outside to hike and feel the sun on their face.”

The sun shone on the campus on this beautiful day. Many trees were showing signs of budding, including the pink cherry blossom trees by the Adler Center. Other trees showed little light green leaves sprouting from the once-brown and grey branches from winter.

[PHOTOGALLERY: Sites and Snaps of Spring 2017 at Ramapo College.]