April 1, 2026 by Olivia Clemmensen (‘26)
April. What a great time of year. Personally, my favorite. It’s the perfect mix of cloudy gray gloom and academic burnout that just makes your soul happy.
As the murmur of AP exams begins and students start their intense studying journeys, no one wants to admit they’ve been sitting in the back of class all year doodling 3D shapes instead of taking notes. The artistic talent I have witnessed in some students’ notebooks really speaks to the creativity and whimsy an AP-packed course load fosters. Seeing the joyous smiles of my classmates as my teacher assigns yet another lengthy homework assignment (due in two days) and announces the third quiz in the past two weeks reminds me how much I love coming to school in the spring.
My calendar keeps filling up with assignments as the days of school tick away, and I am left to think, “How are my teachers going to be able to fit in this much fun?”
As a second-semester senior who has enthusiastically worked myself down to the very bone and happily lost over six months’ worth of sleep in the past few years, I doubt that anything will ever bring me more joy than another graded project or essay. If you are anything like me, you enjoy piling as much onto your extracurricular and academic plate as possible, and with that comes the reward of around zero hours of beauty rest. One of my favorite pastimes lately is staying up until 12:30am, simply for the fun of it, and waking up in the morning hating myself.
Granted, there are many blessings that come with this time of year: upcoming prom, sunny afternoons (if we’re lucky), lunches in the courtyard, and the occasional free block in science class. I am here to tell you, though, that there are many more fun experiences yet to happen before we get to those glorious days in the sun.
First, the undeniable joy of trying to find a prom date. If you are an underclassman, don’t be jealous; your time will come soon enough. With prom just around the corner, juniors and seniors have been waiting all year to awkwardly ask their situationship to the prom. If you are not single, then I’m sorry that you get to miss out on such a heartwarming and totally not anxiety-driven experience. What is a better way to address the whole “what are we” elephant in the room than ask them to prom? What’s the worst thing that could happen? They say no and never speak to you again? I highly doubt that.
Second, the motivation students have to complete simple tasks like making your bed and charging your computer has become increasingly more fun, rekindling a joy and appreciation for the endearing monotony of daily life; things that have not at all become surprisingly hard tasks to complete and make one feel like a lazy troll for not doing. Not to mention the growing lists of assignments, which might as well be called gifts to the ever-grateful student.
Third, and one I can’t speak enough about (that’s just how passionate I am about it) is the weather that has kept upstate locals in an extremely loving chokehold for the past two months. With such an invigorating indecisiveness leaving us hopeful for at least one 60-degree day a week, it only brings us right back to a kind dose of 20-degree sleet we were graced with this past weekend. There is nothing like that indescribable feeling of walking from the senior parking lot, in a cold herd that feels like a death march disguised as being “on time”.
All in all, I rest my case. The muddy, gloomy, and sleepless spring is my favorite time of year… nothing beats all that it has to offer.