It Might As Well Be Spring: “Spring-ter” at NYU
When Staten Island’s Chuck the Groundhog scurried from his underground home into the arms of Mayor Michael Bloomberg on local television, many New Yorkers gained high hopes of an early spring. But today, exactly seven weeks after the traditionally celebrated Groundhog Day, students at NYU pushed through snow and sleet once again, still yearning for the warm days of spring.
“Yes I’m very excited about spring,” stated NYU graduate student, Andrea Kutik, 25. “I’m excited because we had -sort of- a mini-spring, and that being outside is no longer a horrible ideal.”
Although many of the NYU students seemed less-than-hopeful about spring’s swift arrival, not all were as weighed down by this year’s record setting snowfall numbers- a whopping total of nearly sixty inches, with still more snow expected later this week.
“I liked the winter. It was my first winter in New York,” explained NYU freshman, Anna Barbosa, 18. “It was bearable. I didn’t think it was too bad, nothing to extreme.”
Regardless in the divide between those who appreciated the New York winter and those caught-up in the snare of spring, most students seemed to share a common response to the question of what to do when the warm weather finally arrives.
“I’d like to hang outside in the park more,” said Claire Uschersohn, sharing a sentiment similar to most of the other students interviewed. “I’d like to come out here and read, just to come out and be able to walk around without having to wear fifty coats.”
While Groundhog Chuck will likely spend most of his week tucked away in the warmth of subterranean abode, the students forced to travel to class through snow and hail have adopted a hybrid nickname for this time of year when the weather is so inconsistent- they call it “spring-ter.”
