A Taste of Something New: Featuring guest columnist
Carly Wolfrom
Issue date: 4/16/08 Section: Opinion
There's something about warmer weather that just makes everything seem brighter and better. After what seemed like a never-ending winter full of cold colorless days, the recent warm weather has acted as a natural anti-depressant for the students at The College of Saint Rose. Nothing better reflects this sunny disposition than the quad.
Whether you call it the lawn, the quad or that really large square of grass in the middle of campus doesn't really matter. We all know where it is. It seems like the higher temperatures and cloudless blue skies of last week attracted students of all ages and types to the greenest part of Saint Rose.
First, there were the Frisbee kids. They braved the slightly muddy conditions before everyone else. While dictionary.com may define this recreational staple as "A brand of plastic concave disk, used for various catching games by sailing it between two or more players and thrown by making it spin as it is released with a flick of the wrist," to kids on the quad it is so much more. The players know their ultimate sport is truly a form of art; not everyone can pull off the grass stain sliding across the ground grab or that perfect toss that seems to float through air, guided by some superior force.
The baseball players showed up this past week. Both guys and girls alike busted out their gloves from underneath their winter jackets and Uggs and started tossing. Wiffleball games sprang up. The thump of the ball as it hits the leather or bat is both reassuring and a little menacing. When the timing gets a little thrown off or a hit goes wild, almost always a shout of "Heads!" follows. The quad as a whole collectively squints and ducks for cover.
These amazing maneuvers are appreciated by those students who just want to relax. These are the people who flock to the picnic tables or spread their towels and blankets across the lawn to soak up the sun. These spectators may try to get some reading in, maybe even bring out a lap top. But as soon as their feet hit the grass most thoughts of constructive work dissipate and the day is spent talking and napping. For anyone trying to make it through hours of classes, the quad is a beacon of hope that makes lectures bearable. You can almost see the stress-relief waves emanating off of these students.
Whether you call it the lawn, the quad or that really large square of grass in the middle of campus doesn't really matter. We all know where it is. It seems like the higher temperatures and cloudless blue skies of last week attracted students of all ages and types to the greenest part of Saint Rose.
First, there were the Frisbee kids. They braved the slightly muddy conditions before everyone else. While dictionary.com may define this recreational staple as "A brand of plastic concave disk, used for various catching games by sailing it between two or more players and thrown by making it spin as it is released with a flick of the wrist," to kids on the quad it is so much more. The players know their ultimate sport is truly a form of art; not everyone can pull off the grass stain sliding across the ground grab or that perfect toss that seems to float through air, guided by some superior force.
The baseball players showed up this past week. Both guys and girls alike busted out their gloves from underneath their winter jackets and Uggs and started tossing. Wiffleball games sprang up. The thump of the ball as it hits the leather or bat is both reassuring and a little menacing. When the timing gets a little thrown off or a hit goes wild, almost always a shout of "Heads!" follows. The quad as a whole collectively squints and ducks for cover.
These amazing maneuvers are appreciated by those students who just want to relax. These are the people who flock to the picnic tables or spread their towels and blankets across the lawn to soak up the sun. These spectators may try to get some reading in, maybe even bring out a lap top. But as soon as their feet hit the grass most thoughts of constructive work dissipate and the day is spent talking and napping. For anyone trying to make it through hours of classes, the quad is a beacon of hope that makes lectures bearable. You can almost see the stress-relief waves emanating off of these students.
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