There is something about life on campus that just exudes the comfort; whether students are walking to class with friends as autumn leaves flutter from trees, throwing a football around on the quad, going out on the town or going to the beach. Students have freedom here: the ability to settle in, study and enjoy their new home.
However, no summer warmth lasts forever. Winter is coming. In the approaching months, cold weather will arrive and affect the entire campus. But once winter’s chill gets it’s grasp on Monmouth, how will the students be affected? Do the cold months have a different effect on upperclassmen than their juniors?
First, let’s look at the facts. Once it gets colder, there are fewer activities for students to do and be distracted by. Less hanging out outside and more being confined to dorm rooms, due to either snowfall or cold temperatures in general.
For the fall semester, the closer we get to finals, the colder the weather gets. This is almost symbolic of the approaching pressure placed on students. That way students will (hopefully) goof off while the weather is warm and classes are just beginning. However, if the habit persists, students will have both the cold weather and exams to deal with. So, how the last months of the year affect students is entirely dependent on how much more or less they study in the colder times of the year.
“I’d actually say students study more in the cold months,” said Kenneth Mitchell, an associate professor of political science. “There are way less distractions in cold weather, so without the option of going to the beach or hanging out around campus, some students are inclined to stay in and get their work done.”
That certainly seems possible. With a lack of activity on campus in times of cold weather, students might actually become more studious. This holds well academically, but be warned: if the cold can force students to study, it can also drain them so much they don’t do anything at all.
Mitchell continues, “Our school also tends to shut down easier if it ever snows, seeing as how we’re more of a beach-culture at West Long Branch. With more days off and staying in, students can be just as tempted to goof off as in warmer times. When the coldest weather comes, that’s usually the time for exams. The easier, introductory stuff comes in the warmer months.”
Hopefully the student body won’t buckle under pressure in the colder months. As we all know, frozen things break more often than they bend. Yet some students might take a hint form their more primal instincts and opt for hibernation.
“I am extremely lazy so I will leave later for class, rarely go to the dining hall, and try to not walk anywhere when possible,” said Hannah Lavia, a freshman marine biology major.
It seems that the cold weather can inspire laziness as much as it can inspire a drive to work. The desire to go down to the beach or hang out around campus could simply be replaced with the desire to stay in bed and not go outside. But could that just be a freshman’s thoughts? Could an upperclassman have a different response to the cold weather?
“People just don’t go outside as much,” states senior political science major Tyler Vandegrift. “Instead of going to the beach, they might just watch Netflix or something.”
This proposes an interesting theory. Students might not get any more studious or lazy once the weather gets cold, they may just have their “warm” interests replaced by activities suited to the colder weather. In the end, it appears that it just depends on the student’s own work ethic and laziness.
When the weather gets cold, students will stay inside and either study due to a lack of options, hang out just as much in new weather-suited ways, or just do as they normally do, with no more or less studying or goofing off regardless of the new temperatures.
Cold is just cold, and despite what may come academically or socially in those months, students will approach them in whatever way suits their own personality. So as a word of advice to all Monmouth students: try to take advantage of the cold weather and get some work done
Or, as Vandegrift adds, “If you didn’t have the drive to stay in and study before, it’s not going to magically happen just because it’s cold.”
IMAGE TAKEN from hsc.harvard.edu
