It was an overcast day in May when I first stepped foot on UC Berkeley’s campus. The gunmetal sky blotted out all traces of warmth or sunlight, painting Wheeler Hall in an inauspicious cement gray. The sandals I wore squelched as I trudged up the hilly side of the campus, and my ankles were freezing from the chilled rainwater. What an ugly place to live in for the next few years, I remember thinking to myself.
While my initial view of Berkeley wasn’t favorable, I would later discover that the UC Berkeley campus typically looked far different than its initial impression. All the rain and gloom of random May mornings are essential for the beauty that graces the campus in the spring months.
I think of Berkeley now as a campus that owns spring. It looks most impressive when the sun illuminates white buildings backdropped against lush lawns, and when the flowerbeds in front of Dwinelle Hall are alive with roses. More importantly, Berkeley portrays itself as the birthplace of innovation and social change — ideas that align with change and growth. These traits can be wrapped up within the symbolism of the cherry blossom, which is probably the largest floral attraction to students and the most visible indication of the spring season on campus.
Photo by Lu He
The cherry blossoms can be found along the Valley Life Sciences building and scattered near the West side of campus. The most remarkable plot of blossoms is the grove of trees near the Li Ka Shing building, which blooms in a row that passersby enjoy walking under. When the wind blows, petals tend to swirl around in the grove, leaving the road decorated with flecks of white.
Cherry blossom symbolism dates back hundreds of years in Japan. Cherry blossom trees typically bloom around Lunar New Year, which is regarded as a time of transformation. This is mirrored in the changing colors of the cherry blossom tree, which melt from pink to white to green. The trees symbolize exactly what Berkeley stands for: they’re a sign that life is impermanent, constantly changing, and full of new beginnings.
As cherry blossom trees grow, they evolve from having bare branches with tight buds to having branches laden with pale pink petals. They gradually become greener as petals fall with the wind and new leaves replace the flowers. All of this happens within the span of a few short weeks, which is why cherry blossoms are used to represent change and growth.
Photo by Lu He
Not only do the blossoms seem to spring out of nowhere, bursting open in airy clusters in a matter of days, but the transition from pinkish white bunches to fresh green leaves is startling and swift. As a result, cherry blossoms have been used to stand for the impermanent nature of life, which has unpredictable bends and twists. The world can change quickly, so it’s important to appreciate what we have at the moment. For the average overstimulated and preoccupied Berkeley student, this lesson can be a difficult but important one to grasp.
While the petals dropping can represent the idea that good things in life are painfully fleeting, the trees’ transition can also be seen as a positive form of change. Even though cherry blossoms will inevitably fade, the tree continues to grow through the stage of losing its beauty. Season after season, it continues to put forth flowers into the world, even if they don’t remain for a long time. Wintering through December and January bare-branched is what allows the tree to recuperate, grow, and become ready to put out the next batch of buds for the upcoming spring. What seems like a period of atrophy to us is simply a period of quiet, unshowy growth for the tree to lay down groundwork.
Similarly, what seems like a loss of beauty to us is simply a necessary stage of development for the tree; it requires new leaves to maintain its existence. In real life, change isn’t always photogenic or beautiful, and sometimes the most necessary transitions can look messy and imperfect.
Photo by Lu He
In case you missed the cherry blossoms this year, you can still see them next year! The beauty of the cherry blossom tree is that it’ll continue to unfurl new buds year after year. The cherry blossom tree doesn’t stop growing in the winter, and it doesn’t stop growing when its leaves are its only visible aspect. This tree can serve as a reminder to Berkeley students to not only live in the present and appreciate nature but to embrace change and continue putting forth effort within our own lives, regardless of whether we happen to be in a period of bloom or bareness.