The four seasons on campus

I first visited Eastern in my sophomore year of high school, when my older sister was looking into the school. My most vivid memory of that experience is of walking around the pond behind Kea hall. It was autumn, and I remember the way the roots of the trees jutted out towards the pond, covered in a carpet of burnt orange and golden leaves. I was brought out of myself by the beauty. I would walk that walk around the pond many, many times again in my freshman year while living in Kea hall. 

Many of my favorite memories of Eastern are like that, centered around the beauty of the four seasons on campus. It’s not, of course, the seasons themselves that make these memories special. Rather, it’s the community that has been built over the seasons. That’s what makes my favorite memories of Eastern so much better than that memory from high school, because they were made in company. 

Let’s begin in the season that first attracted me to Eastern’s campus: autumn. In my freshman year at Eastern, especially during the fall, Hainer basement was often the randomly designated hang out spot. Why on earth would the basement of a cement block building be the ideal – but funnily enough the built-like-a-maze and only-accessible-by-elevator basement was the perfect place for a Halloween movie night. One stormy night in October (it was genuinely chucking it down) my friends and I sat snuggled down to a Hainer basement double feature: “Coraline” and “Ratatouille”. Fear followed by food.  

But I do like being outside on Eastern’s campus as much as possible – even in the winter months. Winter weather can be a real drag, but it does not always have to be. As more and more snow and cold is predicted, I’d like to remind everyone of the joy a snowy day could bring. 

Remember last January when it kept storming and then we’d lose power and campus would shut down? I remember the first day that happened – it was a Tuesday. I was with my friends in the dining hall. Our class was cancelled at the last minute and an afternoon of freedom suddenly opened up to us. Sledding-fever seized us. Armed with to-go trays, we sallied forth to the Kea-Guffin hill for an afternoon of sledding fun. 

Winter-time hilarity ensued. Snow ball fights, sledding races, tearing up the turf of the KG hill. Somebody had brought a suitcase to sled with (it didn’t work). We stayed out until everybody’s sneakers were filled with snow, hands numb, sweatpants soaked (how did none of us have winter-appropriate clothes?) Afterwards, we all went to Zime to get hot chocolate and warm up. 

Spring is my favorite season, though. I remember last spring I played a campus hide-and-go-seek game. It started in McInnis, unveiling the uncanniness of the Nursing Room, but we soon moved on to bigger and better buildings, especially Fowler. Eastern is full of sneaky little nooks and crannies that give the buildings character – and act as perfect hiding spots. There’s not many campuses where you can hide in the walls or up an elevator shaft. 

Again, I’d like to compliment this indoor memory with an outdoor one. We don’t get many months of summer on campus, but those few really warm weeks – the beginning of May, the end of August – are the real gems. On such days, Eastern is the perfect campus to hammock. My favorite spot is down by the stream next to Sparrowk. I’ve sat with friends around the picnic tables, swung by myself in my hammock, and even waded barefoot into the creek. 

Looking back, all four seasons on campus have given me beautiful memories. So don’t despair of the cold weather. Watch a movie in the Hainer basement (or somewhere better). Get a to-go tray from the DC and sled down the KG hill. Plan a hide-and-go-seek game all around campus. Or rest in a hammock outside of Sparrowk. Well, maybe not that last one in the present weather…