When I first came to Hotchkiss, everyone talked about how horrible winter was. I heard terms like winter depression thrown around. At first, I didn’t believe it. I had lived in New England my entire life, and I had never caught the so-called winter blues.

However, after coming to Hotchkiss, I truly realized what the winter entailed. Winter isn’t just cold; it’s isolating. It means being cooped up inside, because if you go outside, your fingers will freeze off. It means waking up and seeing frozen snow on the ground and grey skies.

After one winter at Hotchkiss, I now understand what people say when they talk about winter depression. It isn’t because the workload gets worse; it’s the fact that every day you wake up to the same monotonous routine. Our campus slowly loses its energy; the weather is consistently dreary, and after a while, everything starts to drag. There is no excitement or variation; you are simply in and out of buildings and looking at the same grey sky, hoping for spring to arrive soon.

That’s why spring is so important. As it starts, I can feel our campus waking up, from the trees and flowers blooming to the students out and about. I often find myself going for walks around campus or hovering around the lake or Elfers’ patio at sunset. Seeing people playing volleyball and spikeball in the quads fills me with a sense of fulfillment. This is the joyful type of culture Hotchkiss fosters that is so dormant during winter. Spring is a time for renewal, and our campus is starting to wake from its slumber.