Thank God, you guys, quad season is finally upon us, and my SADS is cured.
Honestly, the first day of the year that the temperature gets above 60 degrees, you can catch me laying in the grass in front of Wilson, sundressed and sandalled, and trying to do all my homework outdoors.
Heck, I’ll probably end up going blind one of these days from squinting at a laptop screen just because I refuse to do homework indoors when I could be out and about. Also, I have never once remembered to bring sunglasses with me in my stupid, sun-sensitive, blue-eyed life, and I don’t really intend to start now.
To be real, though, sunny quad days mean a lot to me because, inevitably, when you step out onto the grass you’re going to run into at least, like, 70 percent of all the people you have ever met at UNC, and they’re all going to want to chat. If there’s a likelihood I haven’t seen someone in a hot minute, then by heading to the biggest congregation of students all year, I get the welcomed opportunity to check in with old friends and meet them in new groups and new spaces.
I like showing up to the quad with just a schoolbook for some reading, a phone for pictures and a water bottle. After standing lookout for a hot second, someone inevitably waves me down and I get to go collapse on the ground in a big ole heap of buddies and pretend to work while we roll around and catch up.
Days on the quad remind me of why I came to UNC in the first place. I visited in the spring and got accepted in the spring, and on both occasions ended up with Yopo on the grass surrounded by a bunch of college students having a good time. That was what got me excited about coming to learn here and live here in the first place, and now that I’m a student, I love that I get to be one of those people rolling around on the lawn with my pals.
And after the winter we’ve had, don’t we all deserve to go catch some rays and re-soak the sun? I sure think so.