Spring is here and I am going utterly nuts.

I might be mistaken, but it feels like some professors are packing more into each class than they have been, trying to make up for all the classes that were canceled during our most “interesting” winter.

Assignments carry more weight now that there are fewer chances to make up for those that were missed or botched earlier in the semester. The fact that they are getting more and more complicated and time-consuming as more of the syllabus are covered in no way lessens the stress that is building up.

On top of this, plans have to be made for the summer. People looking for jobs or internships (like me) are getting their first rejection letters and are frantically sending more resumes out. People who already have a job for the summer are beginning to bargain with landlords or sub-leasors as they look for a place to stay.

Those getting ready to graduate are hurriedly selling their cars, lofts, carpets, refrigerators and whatnots and looking for people to sublease their apartments before they have to leave.

Then there are preparations for Veishea—putting the finishing touches on floats, dyeing the lake blue-green (sorry couldn’t resist that one), getting ready for the party of the year!

Oh, by the way, have you filed your income tax returns yet? Better hurry, deadline for federal tax returns is tomorrow — you can still catch it if you Fed-Ex it before 5 p.m. Oh, and remember to go get your picture taken for the new ISU Card. I should probably go do it today…

Argh.

Despite the pressure from this flood of activities, it is still impossible to forget that the sun is finally shining and the sky is clear and it’s actually possible to perspire while you walk across campus. At least for a little while.

Looking around, I saw people who have been taking advantage of the beautiful weather; lying on the grass that is finally turning green, and sitting around outside the Hub and on the steps of Parks Library and soaking up the sun.

With the arrival of each warm spring day I can feel the changes in my own overall sense of well-being. This particular winter was, quite frankly, hell. I guess I was lucky that my first winter here (which was the winter of ’94) was nice and mild, and somehow my overall disposition didn’t suffer very much.

This winter though, with those ice-cold, cutting winds blowing against me while I trekked all the way to the other side of campus, made me wonder why on earth I didn’t pick a place with a warmer, milder climate to pursue my degree.

My general mood skimmed the bottom of the sewers and I found it hard to bring myself to say “Great!” whenever someone greeted me with

“How are you?”

Never having experienced temperatures so low for such a long period of time, I think I had a bad case of the winter blahs. Nothing had prepared me for such an extended period of feeling low. Spring couldn’t have arrived at a better time.

Being inundated with schoolwork and events and job-searching and everything else, I find that I need all the sunshine and energy I can get.

Rejection letters and stressful phone calls will do little damage as long as I can get my long-awaited doze of sunshine and warmth. With the coming of Veishea too will be my chance to go out and throw off all the blahs that have accumulated. Definitely good timing, spring.

Crispina Chong is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Malaysia.