Notes From an Average Girl | Goodbye winter, hello spring!

Monday is the first day of spring. Pitt students are officially back into the swing of things after spring break. We are halfway through our spring semester. We have set the clock forward an hour. Everything is telling me it’s spring — except Pittsburgh.

I walk outside every morning, ready for the sun on my face, but when I look up to the sky, what do I see? Gray. There are no clouds. There is no sun. It’s just gray every single day.

I hate to blame Pittsburgh for this, because I truly do love this city, but come on. Is a little bit of sunlight too much to ask for? I’m not begging for 80-degree weather, just some vitamin D.

Personally, I suffer from a mild case of seasonal depression. Maybe it’s because I love the way I look when I’m tan. Maybe it’s because I hate the cold. Maybe it’s because I cherish my summers living at the Jersey Shore. Whatever it may be, the second the sun hits my face, I feel drastically happier. It leaves me thinking Pittsburgh doesn’t want to see me happy.

Last week, I returned from vacationing in Florida. I bathed in the sun, wore tank tops and shorts and sweat from the heat. Then, I stepped off the plane and reality hit. The bitter cold reminded me of my endless assignments and bottomless laundry basket. Don’t get me wrong, my spring break was an amazing escape and I’m grateful for it, but my inevitable return to campus and the gray Pittsburgh sky nearly shattered my brain.

That was until my friend informed me there are only seven more weeks left in the term. As I’m writing this, there are only six. That’s slightly more than a month. I find it difficult to wrap my head around. Six more weeks of hanging out with my friends. Six more weeks of lounging around my tiny Tower A dorm. In six more weeks I’ll be moving out, saying a temporary goodbye to my new favorite people and leaving my first year behind. So, rather than dwell on my to-do list and the ugly sky, I’ve decided I’m going to take advantage of the last bit of the semester.

Although the sunny days are limited, it makes each one more special. When the temperature rises above 60 degrees, the student body appears to double in size. In unity, we all leave our dorms or apartments and gather in the streets. Soldiers & Sailors Lawn becomes a collective of picnic blankets and sunbathers, the backyards of South Oakland fill with dartiers and lines flood the food trucks.

I will cherish all of the 70-degree days, where the sun is bright, that are few and far between. I’ll set up my picnic blanket on the grass, enjoy the view of Cathy and indulge in conversations with my friends. Instead of complaining about having to sign my friends in and out of my building or not having enough seats for everyone in my dorm, I will laugh because soon enough I know I’ll be saying “remember when…” in reference to these things.

I’m slowly figuring out that Pittsburgh is not out to get me. The city is not hiding the sun from me because it doesn’t want to see me smile. Instead, I’m learning to be more appreciative of the little things, like sunny days. So, I guess this is not only me happily welcoming spring, but also saying a sad farewell to winter.